Ignition
by RWBYSage
Summary: Life moves at the speed of sound, and for Team RWBY and the other racers on the streets of Vale, it's a miracle they can keep up. Follow your favorite characters through the rush of every corner, the thrill of every race. (Credit for RWBY and its characters goes to the one and only Monty Oum. R.I.P.)
1. Chapter 1: Speed of Silence

**Yooooo let's just say I'm really proud of this latest project. I'm not exactly sure where I got this idea, but I'm happy I rolled with it. Huge thanks to my good friend Jade for helping come up with the cars. So, with that, I present Ignition, thanks for reading, and stay tuned if you like what you see!**

* * *

The ocean seemingly blended into the night sky as the full moon cascaded over the 50 mile stretch of twisting road known as the Bronze Coast Highway. Even the waves crashing into the rocks below the side of the distant cliffside freeway were unusually quiet. The stillness of the darkness was outmatched, not to be overcome easily tonight. It seemed like it would take a great force to pierce the silence of the late hour. However, an unstoppable force met the immovable peace and smashed through it with raw power. That force turned out to be a bright yellow Chevrolet Camaro Z28 racing down the skyway, all 455 horsepower packed into its V8 engine in use. The stark contrast in both sight and sound was using the Bronze Coast as its own personal racetrack. Because tonight, it was.

Loud, bright, and powerful. Just the entrance Yang Xiao Long always liked to make.

Yang glanced up toward her rear view mirror to see nothing behind her _. "All according to plan_ ," she thought. Then she adjusted it to where she was looking at her reflection. She gave her long golden hair a quick touchup, then flashed a sly smirk at herself, taking pride in her natural looks. She pushed the mirror back into place, causing the air freshener shaped like a bumblebee on it to sway slightly.

"Better not miss much," she muttered to herself while powering her muscle car through a left turn. "I just hope Rubes isn't too mad."

* * *

Further up the road, five more mechanical beasts in the shape of highly personalized cars sat in waiting, their drivers passing the time with light and friendly conversation. One car, a pink Mazda Miata RF, rocked the cliff and the few who were on it at the time with a rather impressive sound system. On the other side of the highway sat a dazzling red Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, its driver door open as it fed the Miata a playlist of songs to blare to anyone nearby. Its driver, RWBY Racing team leader Ruby Rose, relaxed in the driver seat, tampering with the controls on her dashboard, until she was interrupted by her snow-haired teammate, Weiss Schnee.

"You shouldn't be messing with that too much," Weiss sternly warned. "With your luck you'll probably break something and have to get it replaced." Ruby just shrugged off her message and flashed a smile full of childlike innocence.

"Nah, it'll be fine. It's my car so I know how it ticks," she responded. "Besides, it'll be worth it as long as I can hear my tunes," she said while coincidently nudging her headphones off the console into the passenger seat. "Not like it's gonna break my bank like parts on your car would."

"Hey! Nothing goes wrong with the R8! It's reliability is even more astounding than its price," she said, almost as if to flaunt her ability to actually afford the car and its upkeep. When Ruby rolled her eyes in response, Weiss just groaned. "Why were you even made team leader anyways?" she questioned.

"Because I know these roads like the back of my hand. My Uncle Qrow let me drive these streets since before I was even able to drive," Ruby replied, leaving Weiss momentarily confused.

"What? What does that even mean?" she pondered before her eyes went wide upon formulating an answer to her question. "Ruby Rose! Did you drive before you even had a license?!" she exclaimed. Ruby simply nodded and held up her fingers to make 13, signaling that she had been driving since age thirteen. Weiss continued on, "It's bad enough we have these races! The punishment could be huge if we're caught! We don't need any more illegal activities!"

"Oh relax. It's in the past now. Besides, we don't need to be bringing up illegal pasts," she said as her voice lowered to a whisper as she motioned to their other team member. Blake Belladonna, known as "The Deadly Nightshade" to many others on the street, barely moved her amber eyes up from the book she had her focus on, as she leaned on the hood of her heavily modified jet black Mazda RX-7. She simply sighed and spoke, "You know I can hear you guys, right?" Weiss walked over and tried to comfort Blake by placing a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"We know. We're just glad you came to us," Weiss said while adjusting Blake's bow. Blake looked down and back up to reveal shy smile. She nodded and responded, "Thank you." This caused Ruby to smile as well, her's much wider than Blake's. The moment was interrupted, however, by someone crossing the street and coming towards them. Clad in a green leather jacket with a small section on its torso marked by several companies providing parts for his Nissan GT-R, and his long black hair kept back into a ponytail, Lie Ren approached the three girls almost solemnly, hoping not to ruin their time.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," he began. "I just wanted to apologize for the others being a few minutes late." He was quickly joined by an excited redhead who seemed to rush into the discussion faster than her Miata. "Probably Jaune's fault!" the redhead, Nora Valkyrie, blurted out.

"We don't know that, Nora," Ren said, maintaining his calm tone of voice. "Perhaps Pyrrha couldn't decide what to wear." When he presented this counterargument, Nora just looked at him in disbelief, not buying his alternative. Even Ren only sold himself on it halfheartedly, as he knew that wouldn't be the case.

But, no sooner than they mention this do two cars pull up; a bronzen Porsche 911 GT3 with beautiful black and red accents on each side slowed to a complete halt, as did the yellow and blue Honda Civic Type-R following behind it. The Civic pulled off to the side of the road and out of the driver seat steps a blonde wearing a black hoodie with orange drawstrings and a yellow arc symbol on its chest. JNPR Racing's leader Jaune Arc walked toward the center of the road about 30 feet in front of the Porsche with his scroll in one hand and a device in the other. As he took that position, he waved toward his team and Ruby's alike. Ruby met his greeting with an excited wave, while Weiss just kept stone faced. She questioned why he was made the leader of their favorite friendly rival team, and although she never agreed with the answer, the choice was made to put him leader because he had the least experience of the group, and putting him in that position would give him the skills needed to race faster. But tonight, experience was a necessity. So, they brought in an expert.

Weiss turned away and proceeded toward an Audi R8 Spyder, its most noticeable feature being its hood bearing her family insignia: the snowflake of the Schnee Dust Company. She pressed a button on her keys and the supercar started, roaring and igniting to life. The door opened and she took her place behind the wheel of the engineering marvel. The computer screen to her right lit up with the same logo worn on the hood, and she took the opportunity to prep her car by adjusting traction control and the ABS system. Once she went through her prerace routine and felt ready, she slowly pulled off and took her place beside the 911.

As the two pulled up side-by-side, the tinted window of the Porsche rolled down, revealing its driver - a girl with red hair as fiery and beautiful as the accents of her car's vinyl paint scheme ,and with eyes glowing bright green. Her expression showed a friendly yet competitive smile and she sat comfortably in a maroon tank top. JNPR brought in their best driver, Pyrrha Nikos.

"Best of luck, Weiss. You may need it," she taunted, barely able to stifle a giggle in the process. Weiss can't help but lose the icy exterior and crack a small smile back at her good friend attempting to trash talk. "Thank you, Pyrrha. It's about time we settled this one. May the best driver win," she responded. As she went back into a haze of determination, in the back of her mind, she thought, _"I plan to."_ Before more words could be shared, the two were blinded by a pair of oncoming headlights. Jaune steps out the way as in speeds Yang's Camaro from the opposite direction. She screeches to a stop in between Weiss and Pyrrha and calls out toward the R8's down front seat windows.

"You're late," Weiss said.

"Why didn't any of you tell me we were taking on JNPR?!" Yang replied, ignoring Weiss' snide comment, slightly fuming at being left out. "C'mon Weiss, let me take a race. Rubes hasn't let me compete in a while!"

"Just me and Pyrrha," she said coldly while putting her car into first gear. "Finally gonna put this one behind us." She inches her car forward to abruptly end the conversation with the busty blonde, Pyrrha following her lead shortly after to get realigned for the start. Yang groaned loudly and slammed her fist onto the steering wheel.

Meanwhile, Jaune is crouched over the device he walked in with. After some obvious struggle to get it functioning, he kicked it and it radiated a red light for the two drivers to see. He flipped out his scroll and put it to his face, almost screaming into it, "This is Jaune. Is the road clear now?" He could barely hear himself over the revving and roaring engines behind him, and had to plug his ears in hopes that he wouldn't miss the response. But, the other end remained quiet.

"They aren't gonna wait much longer!" he said into the scroll again. The cars were inching ever closer with every rev. Weiss took the moment and glanced again towards the Audi's onboard computer screen. The logo that she wore with pride for fear of others disgracing it, but the same logo that also inescapably tracked her every movement, even when she felt like said disgrace. In the other car, Pyrrha slowly ran her right hand on her shifter and her left on the top of the steering wheel. She was seeking her comfort zone, where potential consequences did not exist, leaving her alone in her element. These thoughts flew through the racers' minds at the speed of sound, yet they sat at their makeshift starting line for what felt like an eternity. Time stood still, and the calm took over. Then, the bang.

With Jaune's scroll sounding off with an "All clear!" from the other side of the call, the light switched to green, and the Audi and the Porsche spun their tires in a struggle for grip on the standing start. Leaving a small cloud of smoke, the two sped off down the track into the first turn, a long sweeping left hander along the cliff.

"Here they come!" Jaune said into the scroll as his excitement took over and a smile came over his face. Nora cheered on her best friend and fellow redhead, while Ruby smiled at seeing one of her best friends do what she does best. However, barely another moment passed before their attention was directed behind them. All of a sudden, the Camaro hit reverse gear and started moving backwards toward the others. With one swift move, Yang spun her car around and put herself facing forward while barely losing any momentum, and began to bolt into the distance behind the race.

"Yang!" Blake exclaimed in a futile attempt to call out after her friend. But, she was left watching a yellow blur drive off, disappearing into the Bronze Coast.

* * *

Weiss wished she was still looking at that logo. Because despite all the stress her family pride might bring, the view of Pyrrha's taillights was much more infuriating.

Although she was only a few car lengths behind, the early jump the racing warrior Pyrrha got on left the resident ice queen frustrated. Even as Weiss applied as much technical prowess in the hairpin corners as she could, Pyrrha remained steadfastly quick on the inside line. Her only solace was that they were only in the first couple of miles, and the girls agreed to make this one longer than the average bout. They found more entertainment that way.

Pyrrha smirked as her eyes quickly glanced in her rear view mirror and back to the road again. Weiss' frustration was beginning to build and boil over, which led her to look harder, more desperately, for an opening to take advantage of. Once Pyrrha entered a slow moving, right bend and left a lane open just wide enough to squeeze a car into, Weiss saw the chance and drove hard into the turn, waiting till the last second to brake. The tires squealed and the brake rotors within the wheels glowed red, and her aggressive move put her mere inches from colliding with the 911. As they exited the corner, they drove side by side. Pyrrha looked surprised out her passenger side window then shared an impressed smile.

"Not bad, Weiss," JNPR's gladiator called out of the window, her smile not fading. This was nothing more than a friendly competition to her. She strived to win, just like any other contest she lined up for, but this was against one of her friends, so she felt a security to let her guard down. "But, watch this," she said kindly yet almost teasingly and slid her car into a drift into the next left turn. The maneuver once again gave herself a small gap between her and her opposition.

Weiss groaned softly to herself and tightened her grip on her steering wheel. Nothing could break her determination now as she chased after her companion and rival - nothing except the pair of headlights from behind that shined through her mirrors. Past the blinding beams is the shape of Yang in her Camaro. Weiss' frost blue eyes go wide with dismay, as she angrily goes for the onboard controls to turn on team radio.

"Yang, what are you doing?! This is my race!" Weiss yelled.

"You guys won't give me a race, so I gotta make my own," Yang responded. She kicked her car into another gear and forced her way between Weiss and Pyrrha, putting all three of them in a very uncomfortable and dangerous position. Pyrrha's face twisted from its previous smile to an expression of genuine concern.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," she said softly, while slowly and tentatively backing off her accelerator.

"Back off, you blonde brute! I'm winning this one on my own!" Weiss again reprimanded her teammate over radio as the trio entered the next left three wide. Yang smirked and decided to demonstrate some precision and thread the needle between the other two.

"See Weiss? Nothing to get your panties in a twist about," she replied, flashing pride at her technical maneuverability. However, her pride was cut short and she was caught off guard by the broad left sharply changing into a hard right.

"Whoa!" She pulled on the steering wheel hard to the right and veered the car, but fractions of a second too late. Her attempt to correct caused her to tap the right rear quarter panel of Weiss' R8. Yang stomped on the brakes and is forced to watch Weiss get sent into a tailspin. Pyrrha's eyes went wide as she quickly dashed to the inside lane, hugging the railing as closely as she can to get around the spinning Audi. Weiss tried to hit the brake pedal and turn into the spin in order to powerslide her car back into the right direction, and while she did stop the rapid whirling, she still slid and ended up backing her car into the outside railing. Luckily, most of the car's momentum slowed down before she did so, which minimalized damage.

Once Yang got her car slowed to a stop, she could only stare straight ahead at the mistake she just committed. She could barely recall the next few moments, falling into a hazy stupor. What she could remember was an annoyed and pained expression on Weiss' face as she got out of her vehicle to inspect its damage. She remembered the faint sounds of motors echoing in her head as the others arrived minutes later. But, the one memory she kept the most vividly - as if it was a haunting image - was her sister being too angry to speak to her, not even to scold her for her recklessness. The opposite result of what she was trying to create.

 _"Oh shit…, "_ Xiao Long thought to herself. _"So much for getting trust back. And so much for proving myself."_ Sinking in her seat, she really wanted to disappear at that moment, to just drive away and not look back, but she knew that would make the consequences much worse. Yang was only allowed to sit there, head hung in silence, as the only noise accompanying her negative thoughts were the subtle waves hitting the Bronze Coast.


	2. Chapter 2: No Rest

**Heyo, it's Sage! Sorry about the delay as always, but life just loves to get pretty hectic on me. I always appreciate the patience though. But here it is, as we gear up for an exciting next chapter. I want to thank all of my friends that help me get through with this (especially you Jade), along with anyone who takes time to read and send feedback. Much love to you all and definitely keep it coming!**

 **PS, the first song is "Buried in the Static" by Lost in a Name and the second is "I Want To Know What Love Is" by Foreigner.**

* * *

The sun rose the next morning over the kingdom of Vale, light cascading from the sky down to the land below. Above it all stood Vale's crown jewel, the prominent Beacon Academy, shining through the rays of dawn, towering over the kingdom as its penultimate guard, watching over all. However, somewhere tucked away in the school's shade, close to the border of where the commercial district meets the residential district, lied a set of garages that from the exterior seem either abandoned or rarely used for anything of importance. For the most part, most of the garages remained empty, especially during this early hour, but within one's walls echoed the sounds of hard work and redemption.

The bland outward walls of one of the garages hid a vibrant meeting ground where four girls almost considered it a home away from home. Four banners hung high on one of the walls, each marked with their respective girl's insignia and trademark color - red, then white, then black, then yellow. Stools and tables that looked straight out of an old-school restaurant sat on a section of black and white checkerboard tile floor. Next to there are refurbished cabinets and mint condition NASCAR-style tool carts holding an assortment of tools and spare parts. A living area was arranged with a big leather couch set, a coffee table, and a sizable TV on the wall next to a couple of posters advertising certain bands. Around the table and couches laid scattered items such as a dog bowl, a few books, and an assortment of random clothes. The garage was basically converted into a home that could also house cars within it.

The only activity in this modified housing for man and machine alike were two sounds: the sound of banging and the sound of music. Yang pulled hard on her front fender in order to hammer out the dent caused by her accident the night prior. She dropped the tool and slipped off her gray jacket. Wiping the sweat off her forehead then wiping her hand on her muted green jeans, she looked down and quietly hummed to herself the lyrics to the song she put on the radio.

 _I built this house with my bare hands_

 _And paved the ground on which you stand_

 _To have it taken all away in the end_

 _Can I still call myself a man?_

She spiked the hammer down in frustration and covered her eyes with her right hand. Yang knew why she was in this situation; she just couldn't come to terms with it. The racing game was there long before she was able to join it, but she was always there to watch as a young girl, as Qrow would bring her and her sister to see the colorful blurs race by some of the back roads near their house in Patch. Yang always told her uncle how badly she wanted to race, but Qrow would never endorse her participating. When he quickly realized he was fighting a losing battle on this front, Qrow decided to teach both of his nieces the craft of speed, the finer techniques required in order to keep them safe. He began to realize that both Yang and Ruby both had natural skill at this, but his conscience was never fully at ease, especially when the risk of being arrested was always run, and he'd probably have to be the one to tell Taiyang one of his precious daughters ended up in jail.

Upon arriving at Beacon, Yang was the one who introduced her group of friends to the streets. Some took more convincing than others, but they all slowly came towards the allure of racing, even with the risks of it all. This earned Yang a distinct respect amongst her peers that was hard to replicate. However, over the past couple of months, her teammates noticed that her style had become more aggressive, and that led her to become a little too reckless for their liking. A new force on the streets had sparked this change within Yang, and when it came up to Team RWBY's doorstep, it angered her. Her attempts to correct the problem resulted in her trying too hard and making the situation worse. The worst feeling for Yang was feeling so distanced from her friends. Her carelessness spiraled to a new low last night, and now she realized she had a long way to get back to the way things were.

 _I can scream all day on the airwaves_

 _But if no one's tuned in_

 _I'll be buried in the static_

Yang sighed to herself and switched off the radio. She looked over to Blake's RX-7 parked next to her Camaro. _"I want you guys back…",_ she thought to herself before being interrupted by the garage door opening. The Lancer Evo with the rose petal decals slows to a stop next to Yang, and both of the front doors swung open. Out of it stepped both Ruby and Weiss While Weiss remained cold and distant, Ruby flashed her big sister a warm smile, seemingly the opposite of the reception given last night. Yang greeted her with a smile in return, but hers much more subdued.

"Hey Yang!" Ruby greeted her in her usual cheerful and optimistic manner. The snow princess Schnee looked at her team leader as if she had just done something unthinkable. She turned to Ruby and whispered "What are you doing?! You're gonna act like last night didn't happen?!"

"I'm trying to get my team," Ruby stopped and corrected herself, all the while still facing Yang and not Weiss, "my _friends_ on the same page again."

"Yeah? Well, good luck with that," Weiss said dismissively while glaring daggers into Yang. This broke Yang's silence and prompted a response out of her.

"C'mon Weiss! I said I was sorry enough times to put Pyrrha to shame! I even promised to fix the car myself!"

"I don't want you anywhere near the R8! Hasn't exactly made the greatest results," Weiss retorted. "Although it feels like I've been going to the mechanic enough. I even learned her name."

"That's not all my fault!" Yang shouted, making Weiss turn away coldly, leaving Yang dejected. "What do you want from me…?" she pleaded in a defeated fashion. Weiss walked over to her and changed her icy demeanor to an expression of concern.

"I want you to go back to the way you were. I want the you before all this anger showed up. Before the new guys showed up… I want the fun Yang," she sighed and went on, "even the terrible puns." Yang smiled once again, this one much more convincing and earnest. Weiss went to hug her teammate but immediately backed up after doing so, looking disgusted at rubbing against Yang's sweat-stained yellow tank top. Ruby and Yang both laughed as Weiss tried to shake off the repulsive feeling that shook her to her pristine core. She just sighed and shook her head.

"Sorry Weiss," Xiao Long said amidst a chuckle, "I never meant to get… like this. But you know why I am doing this. It's the same reason you've been visiting that mechanic." She clenched her fist and had to really restrain the urge to take out her anger on the nearest tool cart. Weiss just sighed again, as if a wave of dismay had swept over her.

"I guess I wasn't as untouchable as I made myself out to be in the Audi…", she said, almost as if she had lost a personal battle. After a brief pause, she switched the topic back to something more lighthearted. "Her name is Harley by the way."

"Is she cute?" Yang asked teasingly.

"Hey!" Weiss objected as Yang seemed to just love toying with Weiss anytime she actually got heartfelt. She thought it was just always too easy. Ruby laughed again from the designated kitchen area, and this eruption of laughter caused another to stir. The soft beat of paws scurrying across the floor grew louder as they approached Ruby. Her eyes lit up as she saw her beloved corgi puppy running towards her with an empty food bowl in his mouth.

"Awww Zwei! You hungry? Are you hungry? Yes you are!" team leader Rose said to her dog in a cute puppy voice. Weiss shared Ruby's look of affection towards Zwei as Yang just grinned at her little sister being as innocent as ever. Her friends could be on the verge of falling apart, but she just knew how to make things feel alright. Yang picked up Zwei and put him on one of the stools right by the window.

"So… are we cool?" Yang half questioned, half prayed. This made Weiss pause for a moment before she actually answered.

"Not yet."

All of the air just deflated out of Yang. Before she could even react to protest, Weiss held up her hand to cut her off. "Not yet. You can talk about it all you want. But until I see you keep that anger in check, then nothing changes. And they'll win." Their conversation is cut off by the sounds of Zwei barking, his attention fixated on something outside the window. Yang peeked outside to see an approaching gunmetal gray Nissan Silvia S15 slowly making its way down the street.

"Speaking of _they_ …," she said, desperately trying to hold back the anger that had been alluded to several times in the past few minutes. Ruby looked over her big sister's shoulder and her silver eyes went wide.

"Oh no. Mercury…" she said in a whisper. Whatever color her pale skin tone usually retained just drained from her face. She quickly pulled the curtains shut and faced her friends with a look of distress. Yang barely flinched at what she saw out the window. Her eyes switched from their usual lavender to a bright and fiery red, and her hair began to glow slightly. She cracked her knuckles, and while she was hoping the car wouldn't come this way, she was prepared to defend.

Her trepidation was not without good reason. Over the past few months, a new force had arose on the streets of Vale, a new group of racers that had managed to take the racing scene and set it ablaze. They relied on unmatched aggression, which had drawn the ire of many of the fellow competitors. However, their mentality of taking victory at any cost had proven to be successful, as they were winning races left and right. Recently, they had taken an interest in the Vale teams after traveling from Mistral. Unfortunately, this team, specifically the driver of that Silvia, Mercury Black, decided to acclimate himself to his new surroundings at RWBY's expense. In one race against Weiss, he caused his opponent to crash hard, retiring her R8 into the shop for repairs for a month and even injuring her.

The girls anxiously waited, as the seconds that ticked away could not seem to meander in the air any longer. Time itself felt stuck in neutral, and the shift lock couldn't be released. They knew virtually nothing about the Mistrali newcomers; they didn't even know who their leader was, as he or she was usually kept hidden, only mentioned through faint whispers. But what they did know was easy to decipher - this squad was not here to make friends. And depending on their intentions, if they were to learn the location of RWBY's base of operations, it could be hazardous.

Silence. That's all the room could hold. It was as if the speed of silence adhered to no law or concept anyone tried to place on it. It never remained constant, and it certainly wouldn't cooperate. Although, there was one thing that many could agree on. The speed of silence was never faster or more fleeting at the moment at which it is broken.

A knock on the door.

It drilled through the room and right into the hearts of Ruby, Yang, and Weiss alike. Ruby froze, then put a finger to her lips to motion to her teammates to remain completely quiet. Yang tilted her head and looked down, suppressing any eruption of emotion. Another knock, this one louder and signaling a bit more desperation. The trio barely even breathed. Ruby closed her eyes and hoped it would end as soon as possible, as the worst case scenario just played on repeat in her head. Then, silence sped out the room again, but in quite possibly the least expected way possible.

"I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS! I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME!"

RWY shared the same expression of confusion as the sudden shock of the bass coming from their driveway rattled the windows and shook the whole place. Yang walked over and peeked past the curtains before bursting into laughter. Outside was one Nora Valkyrie, knelt on the hood of her treasured Miata, theatrically lip syncing along with the song to voice her plea to be let inside. Ruby snickered and opened the door to allow the hyperactive sound-system expert in.

"Oh c'mooonnnnn," she said while walking in, "I promise that there's no fire this time so you don't have to leave me out in the cold!" Weiss rolled her eyes and shuddered slightly on remembering THAT incident. Nora made a beeline for the fridge and began to raid it as if she personally called this place home. No surprise though. Nora loved to invade the RWBY base. Although one wouldn't be able to tell with how hard they race one another, but RWBY and JNPR were actually close friends. The Vale racing community always proved competitive, but these teams had found their tight-knit niche, to assure just a little bit of safety amid the chaos.

"So Weiss, how are things with that mechanic down by the shop? You get her number yet?" Nora jokingly questioned.

"Hey!" Weiss objected as Nora sat down on the couch with a bag of chips in her hand. Yang laughed and bumped fists with Nora. Weiss just sighed and went on, "Ugh, I forbid you two from talking to one another." Both girls just laughed again. Yang wrapped an arm around Nora after she had taken off her black and pink leather jacket. Ruby joined the others and stood behind the couch.

"Women. Such complex creatures," Nora stated ironically. Zwei, who now sat on the couch again, barked at her. "Tell me about it," she responded while giggling.

"So Nora, what brings you here?" Ruby asked.

"Besides stealing our food," Weiss muttered bitterly to herself. In response, Nora held up the TV remote and started flipping through channels. "And our television," Weiss corrected in apparent frustration.

"Well," Nora began with a mouth full of chips, "I actually bring some news. Jauney Boy tells me that there's a bit of a get-together tonight. At the corner of 4th and Battle. You ladies want in?"

"No rest for the weary I guess," Ruby replied while chuckling slightly.

"We'd understand if you guys decided not to come since y'know.. what happened at the coastline last night," she said back.

"Team RWBY never backs down from a race!" Ruby exclaimed, her optimism never broken. Yang nodded and smirked, but Weiss looked down a bit sadly from not having her car. Logic took over and Ruby began to think.

"We won't back down, but leave this one to me and Blake." Yang looked over but before she could protest, her sister continued. "You both are coming off a rough night. Why don't you rest tonight? You guys can just take it easy, maybe watch a movie together." That got Weiss to look up as she glanced to Yang and flashed a soft smile. Yang saw this and matched it with one of her own. _"Finally. A return to normal,"_ she thought to herself. Ruby grabbed her gear and her scroll, while sending a text to Blake to get ready.

"Let's do it!"


	3. Chapter 3: Battle on 4th

**Ayyy I'm getting faster at this! Alright I'm really excited and ambitious about this chapter. It was really fun to write all of these teams interacting with one another, including my own team, Team DASH! I might have to make a car list for some extra clarification, but I'll do that for y'all another day. As always, thanks to my friends for the help of getting me through to the next chapter, especially since that list of friends who support me and my project just keeps growing. I can't be thankful enough. Also, shoutout to my friend Jade for allowing me to use his original team in this story too. Keep reading and you'll figure it out. Follows and reviews are always welcome and enjoy the story! ~Sage**

 **PS yes, I know there's a WWE superstar named Dash Wilder. I promise I wasn't trying to completely take the name.**

* * *

Night began to fall as the red and orange of the dusk sky turned to black, leaving the cityscape to light the darkness. Somewhere through the streets, a green Dodge Ram SRT10 navigated through Vale, hitting various locations marked on its GPS. Once it hit one of these spots, a dark-skinned man with burnt orange hair opened the tailgate and dropped out of the truck bed. He quickly ran out with a Road Closed sign and a couple of traffic cones and positioned them at the corner in order to detour traffic. He climbed back in the truck and tapped the side of it, signaling for the driver to speed off to the next place.

* * *

"Stay focused. Stay focused." Blake kept repeating that under her breath as her sleek and swift RX-7 weaved through traffic. She'd never let this time go to waste; it was the race to the race that served as her tune-up. Her amber eyes concentrated on the maze of red in front of her, the blur of taillights melding together to form a network for her Mazda to slalom through with precise speed and skill. The "Deadly Nightshade" navigated the highway with ease and took so much joy in doing it, she almost forgot the destination of tonight's joyride. That was, until the radio snapped her out of her stupor.

"Blaaaaaake! Hang on! It's not a race yet!" Ruby chimed in over the radio. She struggled to get through the wake of Blake's swiftness, as many cars panicked as she overtook them, causing Ruby's path to keep up with her faunus teammate to be marred with difficulty. The wheels on the Lancer squealed to avoid one person who near swerved into the next lane upon being startled by Blake.

 _"It's always a race_ ," Blake thought to herself while taking a moment to formulate a response acceptable to tell Ruby.

"Sorry Ruby," she came back, "We're almost there at least." She pulled into the right lane, fully recovered from her adrenaline-fueled haze, and exited the freeway, with Ruby now right behind. They pulled together side by side at the red light on the off ramp. As they stopped and the other street got the green light, they saw a mocha brown Nissan 370Z and a brown Lotus Evora marked with a stitched vinyl paint scheme pass by. The duo dubbed in fun as Ladybug by their friends exchanged glances and nodded. They knew they were close. The light switched to green and they turned to follow the other two performance cars. Their short trip following the tandem led them to a parking garage that laid seemingly ignored by most that went by it, with the exception of the 370 and the Lotus.

Ruby and Blake entered the parking garage behind the two to find several cars and their respective drivers already there. Attendance there expected to be high since it was the first meet in quite a while. No one would want to miss this. Ruby and Blake followed behind the Evora and eventually found a spot to park. They pulled up next to it and alongside the nearby Team JNPR. Ren, who was checking out under the hood of his GT-R, waved to Ruby as she exited her car. Jaune and Nora also said hello from the inside of the blonde's Civic as Nora was fiddling with his stereo system in order to provide music for the meet. Pyrrha was the one to walk over to personally welcome them.

"Hello again Ruby," she said in her trademark polite and relaxed voice. "How are things after last night?"

"I think they're smoothening out," Ruby smiled, pleased but certainly not surprised at the Greek warrior's concern. "They're relaxing back at the garage right now." Blake, who had just joined Ruby and Pyrrha, just kept to herself and half-smiled at the antics. Pyrrha flashed a smile much more bright to her, complimenting her amiable nature.

"Hello to you too Blake," she greeted her.

"Hey Pyrrha. Glad to see you as always." Her smile became much more wholehearted upon seeing her flame-haired friend's typical kindness. In fact, the only thing that can get Blake at her happiest without flaw is surrounding her with her friends.

Her attention shifted to the Evora behind her as the driver door swung open. Out stepped a faunus marked with the trait of bunny ears on her head. She had long hair flowing down her back, and while her eyes showed timidity, her expression was warm. She had on black leggings and a jacket marked with a stitched up heart and several aftermarket companies, ranging from Konig to Brembo to Borla.

"Velvet!" Ruby exclaimed happily. The girl with the rabbit ears, Velvet Scarlatina, giggled at Ruby's excitement and spoke up, revealing a tinge of accent in her voice.

"Hey Ruby. Long time no see," Velvet said to Ruby while walking over and finding a place to stand next to Blake Behind her approached another girl, one who looked equally prepared for the runway and the racetrack alike. Her presence gleamed with confidence; her stride displayed her swagger, all the way down to the definite click-clack of her designer heels as she walked. Her eyes scanned through a pair of sunglasses and she adjusted a gold necklace with a crosshairs emblem on it around her neck. It was the lead event organizer and the leader of Team CFVY, one of the most formidable groups to hit Vale, Coco Adel.

"Ladies," Coco welcomed them. "Don't forget to pay the woman if you're racing. Just a little thank you for the ones who make this possible." She smirked and collected a small fee from a representative of both RWBY and JNPR. Peering over her sunglasses, she counted it up and made sure it was all correct. "Hey, you can't complain I'm unfair for you guys."

"Lemme guess. This going to your car's new side skirts?" Blake jokingly jabbed at her.

"A girl needs to look her best and accessorize," she stated, her confidence never flinching. "With both wheels and heels. Besides, Seibon comes with a steep price tag. But they've got the best 370Z body kits around. I could make you pay for it completely," she teased the others. Velvet nudged her and shook her head, amused at her team leader. However, their playfulness was cut short as the sound of an approaching V8 made them focus on the new fleet of four entering the garage. A glossy and graceful Ferrari 458 Italia pulled into an empty section, designating it for himself and the cars behind him. The door opened up and a man with a lean, athletic build, dressed in a custom baseball jersey reading Wilder Industries on the front. On the back was the number 1 and the namesake to the company his jersey was representing. He pushed his swooping red hair to the side and approached the others. Coco took the chance to say hello to the newcomer in her own personalized manner.

"Well if it isn't Richie Rich himself. What is the illustrious and acclaimed Dash Wilder doing with us?" she said.

"Here to show you why I wear this #1. And to make sure the pinnacle of supercars," Dash gestures to his pride and joy, the 458, "puts your tin cans to shame. Like usual. And besides OW!" He was cut off by a stiff smack to the back of his head. From behind Dash steps a girl who is readjusting her MMA-style fingerless gloves after the slap to her team leader. The girl stood at 5'7, a few inches shorter than Wilder, but her muscle tone suggested she could match him in strength and probably outmatch him. Her outfit consisted of a leather jacket that matched the orange shade of her long wavy hair, a black tube top that revealed her midsection, and black denim shorts. However, her most notable trait, was the pair of fox ears on her head and matching tail wagging behind her.

"Don't embarrass us!" she scorned Dash. "You're not even the one racing tonight! You promised Sapphire." She folded her arms as Dash held his head and expressed a slight wince of pain.

"Ugh Auburn," he apologized, slightly annoyed. The girls laughed together at Dash's expense, and some displayed the fox faunus, Auburn Vulpes, some appreciation. Velvet nodded amidst her giggling and Blake gave her a thumbs up. Dash rolled his eyes and muttered "Women" under his breath, half-hoping none of them would hear him. But, his remark wasn't quiet enough, and it resulted in him getting dual smacked by both Auburn and Pyrrha. He groaned again and pleaded for them to stop, causing them to laugh again.

"You go, Auburn! Keep him in line!" Coco told her as a form of applause.

"It's what I do best. Gotta remind Bubblegum here who actually has the power here," Auburn replied smugly and tauntingly. Dash glared at her over the remark, which poked fun at the light red hair color he usually sported. He shrugged it off and turned his attention to Ruby.

"So where's the ice queen?" he asked, curious as to where his childhood friend is. Wilder Industries had been a longtime business partner to the Schnee Dust Company, providing parts applicable to be used by their dust. This alliance led to Dash and Weiss becoming really close throughout their younger years. "She's got the night off. I wanted her to warm up by the fire," Ruby responded, making Blake shake her head and chuckle. Dash just looked at Blake confused, and went on.

"Whatever. You guys are just lucky the Ferrari isn't firing up tonight. Or Auburn's Hellcat for that matter." Auburn nodded and folded her arms in agreement with Wilder. She knew what her team was capable of; she just wished Dash wouldn't show it off in such an arrogant manner. Coco wished this too, and it was obvious she was not tolerating it tonight.

"Shut up and pay me. Not like you can't afford it," Coco said bitterly in order to shut him up. He handed over some cash more aggressively than what was required, then used that as an excuse to leave the conversation and journey back to the Team DASH vehicles.

Meanwhile, next to the Ferrari sat a brand new Acura NSX, coated in a deep shade of purple. Its driver sat behind the wheel, tampering with the on-board technology systems that had taken over the dashboard. The interior of the car had been converted from just an average driver's seat to a state of the art hub for the latest tech, from the upgraded gages and computer to the video screens and LEDs in the seats. The man behind the monitors adjusted his glasses and put his treasured pair of purple headphones around his neck, getting caught up in the hood of his gray hoodie with the word "Technomancer" on it.

His intense focus on the monitors meant he failed to realize the girl peering over his shoulder. Her hair was straight and streaked with blue and black. Her blue eyes gleamed in the light of the screens. She had on a plaid skirt that matched the colors of her hair, a black button-up blouse, and a lighter blue tie. Her boots went up to her knees and were also blue, with a single black and white stripe going up the front of them.

She turned from the screens to her teammate and startled him with a "Whatcha doiinnnn?" He jumped enough to almost knock his headphones off of his neck, but his affection for them wouldn't allow them to hit the floor.

"Dammit Sapphire," the boy sighed and spoke softly, but any frustration dissipated into a resigned smile upon seeing the girl, named Sapphire Hyacinth, smiling innocently back at him.

"Oh c'mon Solomon, you're not being fun! Just cooping yourself up in your car! Go out and be social," Sapphire insisted. The owner of the Acura, Solomon Roxos, was not swayed.

"I know it doesn't seem like it Sapph, but these street games are dangerous. Being "social" could put us in the wrong situation and could be the end of us," he replied coolly and calmly. But Sapphire had already tuned out, causing Solomon to just shake his head and return to the work in front of him. "Besides, I need to make sure to get the route in for the racers."

"Awwww the 21st century digital boy is hard at work," Sapphire said amidst laughter. Solomon just shrugged off her carefree attitude. He knew her favorite place was in the company of others, and the more people at the party, the more comfortable she was. However, he was the polar opposite - shy and reserved, almost always keeping to himself, usually hidden behind a multitude of screens. A knock on the window brought both of them to look up at Dash, prompting Solomon to roll down the window.

"Alright Sapphire, I'm a man of my word. Don't let us down," Dash said as he opened the back door to let Sapphire get out. Stretching her legs and stepping out, she pulled out her keys and pressed the unlock button. From a few parking spaces away, next to Auburn's powerful Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, a sporty and agile Ford Focus ST flashed its lights, signaling its doors now open. He then turned to the resident racing fashionista and held out his arms, inquiring, "So. We ready?"

"We're ready when I say we're ready," Coco answered. She glanced down at her scroll then sighed, indicating slight impatience. Sapphire also felt like she could wait no longer, as she was raring to finally get her next chance to get the rush of a race. Before Dash could bring the conversation any further with any sort of remark, the entire garage was shook by the next incoming competitors. In fact, it was hard to not take notice at the loud revving engines and the obnoxious music blaring, maxing out the cars' speakers to the point where the song just sounded like inaudible noise. The car on point, a silver and maroon BMW M5, stopped in the center of the action, as if to declare itself as the focal point of the entire meet.

"Oh here we go…" Ruby complained under her breath. In fact, that statement seemed to sum up the general feeling that had permeated through the air of the parking complex now. The BMW's driver revealed himself as a really tall man with his brown hair slicked back and a smile that showed too much confidence plastered on his face. His eyes scanned the area. Flashing a smirk, he motioned to the crowd staring daggers at him.

"Are you not entertained?" he asked. The only one who bothered to respond to him was the one he led into the car meet. One guy dressed in green, torn up clothes and sporting a mohawk popped open the door to his Honda S2000 and waved away the critics.

"Eh don't listen to them Cardin. The jealousy is just the reason why they're all losers," he said while placing a hand on his leader's shoulder. Cardin Winchester simply nodded and took in the negative reaction as if it was beauty to him to play the role of heel.

"Remind me when the last time you won a race was?" Blake said, breaking her silence in a jolt. "In fact, when was the last time you were actually invited to one of these meets instead of just crashing it?" Cardin's smile was quickly wiped off of his face as he turned to Blake with a look of anger.

"When was the last time someone actually cared about what you said?" Cardin snapped back at her. "Do us all a favor and keep quiet like you always do, Belladonna. And maybe I won't make you regret this."

"Maybe I'll make you regret ever showing your face here," Auburn fired in her defense. She cracked her knuckles and her fox ears twitched. Cardin scoffed and dismissed her threat.

"Shut up, animal," the mohawk warrior, Russel Thrush, said, which definitely drew the ire of every faunus in the room. Velvet turned away shyly in a mix of subdued anger and embarrassment, Auburn had to be forcibly restrained by Dash and Sapphire, and Blake's eyes displayed a stare of murder as they shifted from the bow on her head which concealed her cat ears back to the duo. Cardin laughed loudly and high fived his partner.

"Pay me. I can't wait to see someone run your ass off the road tonight," Coco said. If it wasn't for the fact she was consoling Velvet, she would've been in the faces of Cardin and Thrush. Cardin just folded his arms and nudged Russel, signifying that Cardin was deferring to let Thrush pay for himself and race tonight. "Hiding behind your other lackeys, I see," she said, swiping the money from him and quickly counting it. Jaune, who was now out of his golden Civic and was leaning on its arc-marked hood, locked eyes with Cardin, with the latter shaking his head and giving the blonde a thumbs down.

The next car to make its entrance pulled up to the now tense scene. The growl of the green Dodge Ram's V10 engine shut off as the truck pulled to a stop, its presence providing an intimidation factor with its lifted suspension and tough grill guard. Out of the back jumped out the rugged looking man with orange hair, whose arms shown off by his sleeveless shirt were covered in scars. In the driver's seat was a man who easily fit the large size of his truck, as he clocked in at seven feet tall. Coco smiled and glanced over her glasses at her other two teammates, Fox Alistair and Yatsuhashi Daichi.

"We're set boss," Fox said. Coco nodded and slapped Fox on the butt, prompting him to turn his head to look at Coco and sigh, not pleased but not entirely against her action. Velvet joined her giant friend's side, always satisfied with the comfort he provided. However, unknown to the others, off to the side by the entrance of the garage was another contestant in the Vale street games. She leaned her back against a black Yamaha R6 motorcycle, and adjusted her black long-sleeve T-shirt as her tail blew in the breeze. Her face was hidden by a bike helmet that was outlined in LEDs that went through each color of the spectrum, and her black hair that fell out of the helmet on one side was tipped in blue. Her curiosity was fixated on the car meet as she pulled out her scroll and typed a message. However, Coco continued on and motioned for everyone to get ready.

"Alright everyone. Showtime!"


	4. Chapter 4: New Challengers

***checks time* Midnight. Eh, not bad.**

 **Phew, this one was tough.** **Setback after setback, stoppage after stoppage, but I finally got this chapter done. It's a longer one, and I'd like to think it's the best one yet. Thanks to you guys for sticking out with me and being so patient. Life as a college student can be really hectic and a lot of time gets consumed. I promise I'm not giving up this story though, so I ask for patience whenever long gaps like these come around. Your love and feedback is greatly appreciated and is truly a great source of motivation to keep going. Without further ado, on with the story.**

 **Disclaimer: Team DASH is my team, and Team JASR belongs to my friend Jade.**

 **~Sage**

* * *

Four cars took to the starting line, marked on the street by a freshly painted white stripe Fox had just sprayed on the ground. Upon finishing marking the ground for the cars to line up, he tapped the hood of the last car he passed, almost as if to signal kickoff. Everyone surrounded the tetrad of rivals. The tension in the air became palpable.

On the far left of the group, Jaune gripped his steering wheel of his Honda Civic and his blue eyes focused on the empty road ahead of him. On the far right, Russel Thrush revved his Honda S2000 engine in a small attempt to show off. Next to Jaune, Sapphire adjusted each one of her mirrors, and gave herself a good luck wink in her side-view. In between her and the S2000, Blake flipped up her sleepy-eyes style headlights of her modified Mazda RX-7 and readied herself mentally.

"No distractions. Watch your gages. Time your moves right. Stay focused," she said to herself. Her scroll, along with the scrolls of the other three competitors, all buzzed simultaneously with the same message. Off to the side, Solomon looked up from typing on his personal tablet, which he always had strapped to his arm. He nodded to Auburn, and she picked up her radio and come in to all four racers.

"Route's been sent. Good luck guys. And go get us a win, Sapph," Auburn said with a smug smirk on her face. At that moment, all of their scrolls lit up with GPS directions of their 5 mile street course. Sapphire curiously inspected her radio, as her fox-tailed teammate's voice came through like static, but she shrugged it off since she was able to interpret her anyway.

"This one's for Team DASH," Sapphire said back to Auburn with a smile. Jaune ignored the banter and took the opportunity to hook his scroll up to his dashboard for easy access. His gaze then turned up to Nora strolling up to the middle of the street, stopping in between the two middle cars. Nora's turquoise eyes were injected with excitement and her smile grew more eager as the seconds ticked by. She motioned for the drivers to display just how much they were raring to go, which Thrush took as a chance to roar his engine even louder, to the applause of his team leader.

Nora decided that she could not take the anticipation any longer, which was obvious to anyone who could see her brisker than usual demeanor. She pointed to her left to her flame-haired teammate Pyrrha, who nodded and responded in a balanced tone of voice.

"Ready."

Nora then looked to her right and pointed to Auburn, giving her the OK. She had her arms folded over busty chest as she spoke and her fox ears shook with a tinge of animation.

"Set."

The hyperactive Valkyrie took two steps forward. Both hands went up in the air. The moment seemed to hang in the air forever. With one last impulse, the moment was left off the leash.

"GO!"

The air became marked with the deafening yet harmonious sounds of tires screeching to get grip, thousands of horsepower being churned out to get the early advantage, and the cheers of everyone else in attendance. The four chariots raced right past Nora, as she whipped around to watch them go down toward the first turn. Sapphire edged her Focus past the others to pull ahead and gain the early lead. However, Jaune remained persistent on her inside and placed himself in second. Blake decided that it was best to tuck behind into third to potentially avoid any mayhem, and Russel brought up the rear due to not getting as good of a jump off the line as the others. The foursome sped into the first turn, a near 90-degree left, with the first two sliding into side by side and the other two close behind. They all avoided colliding by mere inches as they bolted down the next street, Orlaith Drive.

"Watching a successful run has gotta be the best part of the job," Coco said in self-applause while wrapping one arm around Fox's shoulders and the other around Velvet's. Meanwhile Ruby has strolled over to where Solomon is sitting in order to peek over his shoulder and watch who is winning from his tablet. He looked over to see the red-hooded Rose and jumped slightly, startled.

"People have gotta stop sneaking up on me," he said under his breath amidst a faintly frustrated sigh. Ruby smiled apologetically and Solomon signaled all was ok by holding up the device so Ruby could see the action easier. However, the sound of an approaching turbocharged 4A-GE engine caused everyone to look up in confusion. A purple Toyota AE86 zoomed down the street past the Vale racing crews and toward the direction of the race.

"Who's that?" Ren asked as Nora rejoined his side. Dash held his hands up in annoyance. Cardin also expressed similar exasperation.

"Doesn't matter who it is," Yatsuhashi said, finally breaking his silence. "What matters is our friends might have some company."

* * *

Jaune's nerves were being tested. He had pulled up again to Sapphire and had slowly beginning to creep ahead of the garage's resident gossip. A glance in the rearview mirror also told Jaune that Blake and Russel both were right on his bumper, breathing down his neck. The next challenge was a quick right then left exchange to the street one block over, almost serving as a cityscape chicane. The blonde had the advantage though by starting off on the inside line.

"Alright just hit your mark on this right and you can crossover in front of the Focus," Jaune told himself. But getting caught up in his thoughts proved to be a costly misstep, and a quick look down at the gages showed he was carrying too much speed into the corner. He braked hard to get it decelerated, but the backend of the Civic kicked out too much, sending him into an unintentional drift. Sapphire's eyes went wide and swerved out wide in a fraction of a second's reaction time in order to miss colliding with the Civic.

Blake analyzed the incident unfolding in front of her. Her eyes scanned from the two racers to the surrounding area, including a bus stop in front of a building. At the last second, she pulled hard to the right toward the curb. Fear never seemed to take hold of Blake as she neared the sliding Arc and the embankment. Collected as ever, she managed to squeak her RX-7 right between Jaune's hood and the traffic sign marking the stop. That maneuver also lined up Jaune's car as a pick to pass Sapphire, putting Blake in front of the pack. Meanwhile, Russel had used the opportunity to move left and gain the inside heading out of the chicane, positioning him past Jaune and beside Sapphire. Jaune recovered from the slide, but not without penalty, as he now had passing to do to regain the lead.

As they soared down the next street, marked by a large grass area with trees lined in a row serving as a median, Russel fixed his attention next to the Ford on his right. He veered his way into Sapphire's lane, depriving her of racing room.

"Ugh! Move, dammit!" she groaned. She looked for any type of reprieve but the green Honda just kept bearing down on her, forcing her closer and closer to the curb. But, Sapphire couldn't make her way past Russel, and she was coerced into backing out of the impromptu game of chicken and hitting the brakes to tuck in behind him. That left the member of Team CRDL with the taillights of the RX-7 as his sole focal point.

Thrush wasted little time in shifting his car into another gear and ramming his car straight into the back of Blake's Mazda. Blake looked up in her rearview mirror and her usually mellow expression cracked with disdain. Russel bumped into Blake again, this time enough to pick up her rear wheels and send her swerving left. She weaved her way over the median, careening over it and in between the trees before straightening out in front of oncoming traffic.

"Dead girl driving," Russel remarked as he watched RWBY's resident ninja fight for the race and her life alike.

* * *

Back at the parking lot, the Vale crew was abuzz with the arrival of the new unknown challenger. Questions kept rising into the air like the heat off of the blacktop after the racers laid rubber down on it. Emotions ranged from concern to outrage, as everyone tried to decipher who this mystery person was and why said person was here. Being the head organizers of the event, Team CFVY scrambled to try and make heads or tails of the situation. Velvet and Yatsuhashi crouched over Solomon and his device, as they took to radioing to the challengers in order to alert them of what was happening.

"Alright, we've warned everyone about the situation, except Sapphire. We don't think her radio is working," Velvet reported to her team leader, Coco.

"Unbelievable," Dash said, exasperated. "So she has no idea what could be coming her way."

"Quit complaining," Coco said in an attempt to keep his worry from spiraling out any further. "She's a smart girl. She'll be fine." The heir to Wilder Industries fixed his glare on Coco, but before the clash could escalate any further, the sound of an unfamiliar female voice brought everyone's attention to the entrance of the garage building.

"So. This is Vale. I gotta say, for as much as you guys argue, you're a very tight-knit group. Can't say I'm used to that."

The girl hidden under the customized bike helmet had finally revealed her presence to the group. She spoke lightheartedly, her voice carrying a slight tomboyish pitch, but nowhere near enough to diminish its pleasantness. Taking off the helmet unveiled the girl to have a half shave haircut with brown hair, with the longer side tipped in blue. Her eyes mismatched, as her right one glimmered gold and the left shone as an icy, metallic blue. Like Auburn, she also had a pair of fox ears on her head, both of which sported piercings.

"Alright, what gives? Are you trying to be intimidating? Because I'm not scared," Cardin spoke, fed up with the brewing tension. The new faunus simply chuckled and shook her head in response, which caused Cardin's anger to rise even further. He exclaimed, "Who are you?!"

"Oh relax," she said. "Last time I saw a guy with a face red like that, he had a much better view than you have right now." She laughed louder, but no one else was swayed by her jokes. The rigidity and pressure of the circumstances could not be broken as everyone was still gripped on this newcomer. She noticed this and went on, "Oops. Where are my manners? Name's Sienna Umberon. Local punk and fastest fox in town." Auburn tilted her head at this and her fox ears twitched slightly.

"Wanna try that last part again?" she asked Sienna, which only prompted a smile and a shrug. She went on with her introduction.

"Me and my team just came in from Vacuo. We tore up the scene there, but it got real boring real fast. We heard a lot about Vale, and how it was becoming a hotspot for street racing. So we decided to see for ourselves if the rumors were true." Ruby was the one to pop the next question.

"So wait. The purple Toyota. That's one of you guys?" the young Rose asked.

"Yup. That was the proud leader of Team JASR," Sienna said while nodding.

"Whoa hold up!" Dash said, interjecting himself before Ruby could ask more. "You say you've experienced with how street racing works, yet you think you can just barge into a race unexpectedly? This shit isn't free to play! I thought someone from Vacuo of all places would understand that." Sienna stared down the team leader with a grin plastered on her face. Without breaking eye contact, she pulled out a stack of lien from her pocket and held it up for him to see. Coco approached them and swiped it from her before quickly tabulating it in her head.

"She's got no quarrel from me. I've got everything I need to give our rookie a happy 'Welcome to Vale,'" Coco said while casually sliding the lien into her purse.

"Don't use that word 'rookie'. Just remember where that money came from," Sienna said back with only a slightly brazen way. "And don't insult Vacuo again, boy. It may not be the best home, but it's our home." Dash's leer didn't fade until he turned away from her in order to update himself on the race.

* * *

It wasn't that Blake never recognized trouble; she just remained calm while faced with it. That being said, her stress levels were rising the more the headlights coming at her shined through her windshield. Her senses heightened as she moved her way in and out of traffic, crisscrossing around the cars to look for an opening to rejoin the race as their occupants panicked upon nearing the speeding Blake. The cat faunus knew she had to work fast, before the others turned to the next street.

Then, she saw her opportunity: a break in the line of cars that she could get through. But just as fast as she found the godsend did it disappear as a SUV blocked her path. Blake quickly redirected her Mazda to miss the car and continue straight, forcing her to watch as the other trio of racers hung the next right onto Aero Drive. Blake groaned and gripped the wheel tighter as the GPS read out "Recalculating," almost as if to mock her.

"Shut up!" she yelled to the machine. However, her whole mood changed when she quickly sighted an alleyway between the buildings headed by a chain link gate. A hard left took her through the gate and down the alley, hanging onto the new route as her only hope of staying in the race.

Meanwhile, Russel had used his underhanded tactics to gain a somewhat comfortable lead over the other two. Neither could seem to make ground on him either. They were too busy combatting each other for position, with Jaune holding the advantage over Sapphire at the moment. However, both looked in their mirrors to see another car rapidly approaching them through their slipstream.

"I guess that's the company they told me about," Jaune said to himself. However, Sapphire was taken by surprise since she wasn't warned. But, she was far from discouraged by the competition.

"Well, well. Looks like we have a newbie looking for a challenge. Welcome to the party," Sapphire said while smirking in the mirror. A sweeping left-hander curve past the Vale Museum of Art put the racers on Sarcoline Boulevard. Russel glanced at his rearview and smirked, pleased with his increasing gap, while the other three raced each other hard, refusing to give an inch. A short trip down this road took them onto the freeway. Once they exit, it would be a drag race back to the garage.

Blake kept a close eye on her GPS as it continuously calculated a new route for her each second she blazed her own path. She was calling her shots in fractions of seconds, weaving her way through the debris marring the maze of narrow alleys. A left turn sped her through the heart of a couple of abandoned warehouses. The GPS struggled to keep up with Blake. She was in full control.

Then, she saw the time to make her move. She hung a hard right into a compound area littered with cargo boxes and scaffolding parts. Into the distance, she could see the lights illuminating the busy highway. Her eyes focused straight ahead, and everything around her became a blur. She moved past every obstacle and tore through another chain link fence, this one separating the compound from the service road. Looking down the hill from the elevated service road to the highway showed Blake the green S2000 navigating through the traffic. Once Russel exited the freeway, a hard left put him on the overpass back on Battle Street. Blake drifted her way back onto track, side by side with Russel.

"What?! I thought I dealt with you!" said upon seeing Blake's resurgence back into the fray. The mohawk warrior panicked and reached for a red button on his dashboard. After a couple moments' hesitation, he pressed it and activated a nitrous boost, propelling his car ahead. Blake smirked, almost as if she was toying with him.

"Too soon," she said teasingly before going for a switch of her own, hers on the steering wheel. She patiently waited, bided her time, then flipped it, igniting her own shot of nitrous. She reeled in Thrush quickly, making him feel helpless as the Mazda filled in more of his car's mirrors. Then it filled the Honda's windows, making a beeline for the finish line.

"No! I'm tired of looking like a loser!" Russel said with rising anger in his voice. He suddenly pulled the car hard left into Blake's rear quarter panel. The RX-7 spun, and its driver groaned as she grabbed the e-brake lever and tried to lock the car down. She eventually came to rest in the middle of the street.

"Spin to win, baby! Hell yeah!" Russel said as he pumped his fist and crossed the finish line. The others, who could see the action by that point, just collectively groaned as dread took a hold of atmosphere.

"Great," Auburn groaned under her breath. Ruby ran up to her and snatched the radio from off one of her belt loops.

"Blake, are you ok?" she said. Her teammate just sighed at first reply, but then finally came back to her.

"Yeah, Ruby, I'm fine…," she said with obvious disgust and dejection in her voice. Blake felt like she should be in disbelief, but none of this shocked her. However, what did shock her was the sudden shine of headlights coming her way. She gasped as the other three cars came barreling toward her and began sliding to avoid her. The AE86 slipped right to avoid Blake, but ended up colliding with Sapphire's Focus hard, sending her into her own slide. The Toyota and Jaune crossed the line, and Blake and Sapphire eventually followed, officially regrouping everyone. Cardin and Russel seemed to be the only two showing joy about the situation, as they were sharing high fives and words of praise.

"Now that's a race! Way to make a name for yourself," Cardin congratulated his partner, uncaring about the circumstances of how it was achieved. Sienna took no time in speaking up and calling out the two bullies.

"You call that a win? Even in Vacuo there are standards. And making a name like that wouldn't earn you anything except an ass kicking," she said. Russel tilted his head and looked up to Cardin as to answers for who she was. Cardin simply shrugged her off and decided to fire back himself.

"Wanna try that, animal?" he said while motioning for Sienna to come out him. She cracked her knuckles and readied up, but before she could step forward, Dash cut in between them in order to grab her attention.

"Really? Standards? You wanna bring those up? You just invaded a race you had absolutely no business being in. And now look what happened," he said as he pointed to Sapphire, who was out of the car inspecting the damage. Meanwhile, the leader of Team JASR stepped out of the car. She had on a purple hoodie and raggedy sweatpants with holes on both knees. Her green eyes shimmered in the light of the lamppost and her black and purple-tipped hair flowed past her shoulders. She adjusted her beanie and joined Sienna's side.

"I'm sorry about that. I was just trying to avoid the other car and make less of a mess. It was just a… racing situation," she said, speaking softer than her fox faunus friend.

"Eh, I've had worse. Nothing I can't get fixed," Sapphire said while walking into the conversation. "You're a good racer. What's your name?"

"Jade. Jade Meadows," she said.

"Sapphire Hyacinth," she said back in her own introduction. Dash's frustration, however, didn't fade as he brought the blue-haired girl back before the two talked any further. Jade turned around to meet two more approaching figures: Coco and Fox.

"Not bad out there. Not sure I agree with the fashion sense though," Coco said as she eyed Jade up and down. "And don't let Numero Uno or Dumb and Dumber over there give you the wrong idea. You're welcome in Vale. Next time though, I'll text you when we get together."

"If we can avoid this from happening again, we would," Fox added on. Jade apologized a couple times more but Coco signaled for her to stop.

"Oh and by the way, team JNPR would be more than happy to give you a tour of Vale if you want something to do for a day. Just ask Nora, the chick in pink. She'll be more than happy to help out." Jade nodded as a form of thank you before the two members of CFVY walked away. Sapphire also waved to them both as she returned to her car. Sienna wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled into a makeshift headlock, causing them both to smile. Ruby and Blake joined one another, with the latter still bitter about the ending of the race.

"There will be other races, Blake. More fair races," Ruby said in comfort.

"The world isn't fair. So if I can't win when it's unfair…" Blake said back with her head hung.

But, at the top level of the parking garage sat a lone car: a green Pontiac Solstice GXP. Its dark-skinned driver leaned on the hood while looking down at the crowd, surveying and taking mental note of everything that was happening. Her two long bangs of her otherwise short mint green hair flew in the breeze and her crimson eyes glinted in the moonlight. She was clad in white pants, a strapless green baudeau top, and a light brown jacket with a black gem emblem on the back. She had bands around her right wrist and tape around her left.

 _"Cracks,"_ she thought to herself while tapping her heel on the ground. _"Makes this even easier."_ Her face flashed a smirk, then she got into her car and drove off.


	5. Chapter 5: Wake

**Well, it has been stress and procrastination galore these past couple of weeks, so to be able to get this out is definitely a much-needed positive right now. I got this one done pretty quick, and that honestly feels weird to me. I just hope it doesn't look like rushed content. As always, thanks to my friends (especially the one who created JASR) and thanks to you guys for reading. Feedback is appreciated and as I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoy writing it.**

 **PS, the song used is "Riders On The Storm" by The Doors. A little bit of channeling my childhood with Need For Speed Underground 2.**

 **~Sage**

* * *

The final stretch. Blake could see the taillights of Russel Thrush's Honda S2000 grow bigger and bigger with each passing second. She stayed in his slipstream till the last possible second, then pulled left, putting them side by side. She glanced over at Russel through the window. Russel looked back with an expression of anger and agitation. The crescendo built as the finish line neared rapidly. Then, she saw him jerk the steering wheel hard towards her. Blake gasped and tensed up. Her eyes widened then closed as she braced for the moment of impact.

Then, she opened her eyes.

She looked through the windshield of her black and purple Mazda RX-7 to find herself not in an out of control spiral, but instead sitting stationary, staring at a wall. She examined her surroundings to notice nothing had changed in the RWBY garage within the past few moments. She took a deep breath and rested her head on her steering wheel. The vision would not stop replaying in her head every time she closed her eyes. But, Blake preferred it this way. She used the constant and haunting reminder as motivation to improve from what previously went wrong, whether it was her fault or not. She closed her eyes and prepared to go through it again. That was, until the bass of a loud EDM track quaked the whole building.

Blake's eyes jolted open and she jumped in her seat, surprise momentarily gripping her. She looked to her right to realize one Yang Xiao Long leaning on the driver side door of her Camaro. Blake glared at her with visible annoyance, to which the blonde responded with a smile and a wave. Yang unhooked her aviator sunglasses from her tank top and held them in one hand as she bent over into the down window and switched off the radio with the other.

"Yang…" she said amidst a sigh of exasperation while getting out of her car.

"Ya know, Blake. I can tell you've spending a lot of time playing on your scroll. You've got that grumpy cat look down pat," Yang said before putting on her sunglasses and shooting finger guns at her teammate. Blake replied with a groan then turned away to face her car again. She crouched down and inspected her front end, damaged from having to crash her way through fences and gates. Yang's smile faded slightly at seeing this, but she tried to keep up her jovial demeanor.

"Oh c'mon, Blake. You know I want to talk to you. I tried last night but I guess cat had your tongue," she said in another attempt to break her bad mood. Her smile was then knocked off completely since she had to duck to miss the incoming wrench Blake had thrown at her. Deciding to stop the jokes, Yang walked over and crouched next to her. She placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting look, one that Blake didn't acknowledge, instead still looking straight ahead. Yang pulled at her car's fender and gave it a light tug. "No big deal. I can get it fixed within an hour of two," she told Blake softly.

"Yang, you don't have-" Blake said before Yang cut her off by putting a finger to her lips.

"I got it. But only if you have a seat and talk to me," she said back. Blake sat down on one of the work benches near their cars while Yang walked over to one of the tool carts and started rummaging through a couple of the drawers. She pulled out a body hammer and knelt down to get to work. However, when the room remained silent, she paused her task and motioned for Blake to start speaking.

"I don't know what you want me to say! I lost! It happens," Blake finally said.

"You got screwed though. No one should ever lose a race that way. Makes every other racer just look bad," Yang said.

"Well you know what," Blake said sternly, standing up in the process. "This is the real world. It happens. That's just the way things are. No one is ever going to cut me a break. No one is ever going to show me sympathy. So why should I have anyone feel sorry for myself?!"

"Always so dramatic," Yang hummed under her breath. "Look, this is why we never invite Team CRDL. All they do is ruin it by acting like frat boy rejects. Not to mention how they treat faunus…" She trailed off as she could see anger welling up inside Blake, her fists now clenched and her head cocked with her gaze fixed down.

"Exactly more the reason why I need to be the one that conquers this. I need to overcome this challenge," she said to Yang with steely determination in her voice. Yang, however, was not persuaded by her logic.

"Why are you so hellbent on the idea of having to do this alone? That part of your life's behind you now. You've got me, Ruby, Weiss. We're your team, your friends, and we're here to help. We want nothing but the best for you. But, we can only give the best with you if you open up to us and actually accept our help!" Yang said in return, her voice escalating in volume and intensity alike. She faced Blake with an attitude that demanded answers.

"You… already know the truth," Blake said. "I was raised outside the kingdoms. If I couldn't live on my own, I couldn't survive."

"Yeah, but you don't have to be alone anymore. What are you scared of?" Xiao Long said, firing back at her dark-haired friend.

"There are worse things out there than Team CRDL!" The air became eerily still and quiet, a sharp contrast from only seconds prior. Yang looked down, appearing apologetic that she had touched the part of Blake's past that she desperately tried to keep secret. It took her months to finally open up to the others about it, and even then she was extremely uncomfortable in doing so. Blake continued, "I've seen some of the worst these streets can conjure up. I've been part of the worst. And if that 'worst' is ever able to catch back up to me…" She paused and turned away before mustering the rest of her statement, "I'd never be able to forgive myself for what they'd do to you."

Before Blake could say any more, a pair of gauntlet-clad arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a hug. Yang had decided she had heard enough.

"Like I said. We're. Team. RWBY. And we will stick together as the friends we are, for better or for worse." Blake placed her hands gently over Yang's arms to keep her in place. "I've done a pretty good job in tearing this team apart lately with how I've been acting. It's about time I started trying to patch things back up again." Blake smiled to herself and mouthed the words _"Thank you"_ , which Yang picked up.

"How fitting. The girl from Patch is the one to _patch_ things up," Blake said to Yang as she turned back around to face her again. Yang couldn't contain her smile as she looked in half disbelief that the one and only "Deadly Nightshade" herself Blake Belladonna had just made a pun. Blake could only smile and shake her head at Yang.

"C'mon," she said. "Let's get to work."

* * *

A musical earthquake shook central Vale. Windows of shops and cafes rattled and as the patrons inside them looked outside to find the epicenter. The source of the seismic activity pulled up to a red light next to the ValeHalla Café. Jaune's Civic Type-R radiated in the reflection the trembling windows gave off as the customized sound system Nora installed boomed, being heard from blocks away. Unfortunately, those blocks included a police officer patrolling on a motorcycle, evident by him knocking on the Honda's driver window. It rolled down to surprisingly reveal not Jaune behind the wheel, but instead Ren, with Nora in the passenger seat.

"Son, just because you like your music, that doesn't mean everyone else needs to hear it too. Turn it down," the officer warned while glaring at Ren through a pair of sunglasses.

"How many times have you recycled that one-liner today?" Nora sarcastically questioned. Before she could go on, Ren cusped his hand over her mouth. His magenta eyes fixated back to the officer and he pushed his hair out of his face.

"Sorry, officer. I hate to break the peace and quiet," he said in his usual calm tone of voice while reaching over and turning the volume down. The officer nodded, then got on his motorcycle and sped off as the light turned green. Nora stuck her tongue out in order to get Ren's hand off and to display her irritation at the cop. Ren shuddered at feeling her lick his hand, which drew a disapproving glare from him.

"Whaaaat? I gave Jaune this Teku system for a reason, and he's too chickenshit to really use it himself," Nora said in her defense. Ren simply held his head and sighed, but his previous chagrin dissipated as he saw Nora's vibrant smile. Their moment was broken up, however, by the emergence of one Sienna Umberon from the backseat.

"Just to let you know, I was flipping him off the whole time. I've got your backs. Oh and by the way, I personally love the choice of surround sound. I always think the Teku brand is a true dedication to bass," she said. Nora gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up, but Ren groaned, secretly wishing for the peace and quiet he had mentioned earlier. Almost on cue, Nora reached over to the volume controls and prepared to turn up her playlists once again, but Sienna stopped her before she did so.

"Actually, mind if I make a request to the DJ?" Nora motioned for her to put on whatever song she had in mind, and a couple of moments of typing on her scroll later, a new track took over the interior of the car.

 _Riders on the storm_

 _Riders on the storm_

 _Into this house we're born_

 _Into this world we're thrown_

Sienna leaned back and relaxed, putting both her feet up on the console. She let the song's slow beat and low vocals soothe, a polar contrast to the quake sparked only minutes prior. Nora tapped her foot in tune with the song, and even Ren nodded along with it. The other occupant of the car, Jade Meadows, was also bobbing her head with the melody of "Riders on the Storm" while she was gazing out the window, taking in the views of the uncharted territory of Vale.

"I hope Jaune doesn't mind we're making this much of an uproar in his car," Jade said, finally speaking up amidst her fascination with the sights and sounds of the kingdom.

"Oh relaaaaax," Nora said in response, shrugging off her concern. "Jaune's car is the only one of ours that could fit four comfortably. And we did promise a tour of the city!"

"Does he even know you have his car right now?" Jade said out of sheer curiosity, although she half assumed that Nora indeed inform her partner that she was taking the Civic out for a ride. However, when her question was met with an awkward silence from Nora, she couldn't help but try to conceal a smile. Sienna outwardly laughed and Ren gave her hyperactive teammate another serious look. He again shook it off and turned his attention to the two in the backseat.

"Are you sure your friends didn't want to come?" Ren asked the latest newcomers to Vale.

"They certainly appreciated the offer, but they decided to stay back," Jade said.

"One of them is our team mechanic, so she was busy fixing up Jade's car. And the other one is just incredibly shy and passive. We'll get her out here one day though," Sienna said, expanding on Jade's statement.

"Well that's ok," Nora said. "But, going on with the tour! Back there was Valehalla Café. They've got some of the best muffins around! Nowhere near as good as Ren's pancakes though. And over there is the local bookstore. I know a lot of friends that could spend a lot of time in there."

"Keeping that in mind. We always like to keep up with certain car magazines," Jade told them while taking mental note of the store's name. Nora rapidly continued, energetically going on and on about all of the buildings they passed, taking great joy in showing her new friends everything her home had to offer. The two JASR girls exchanged glances and giggled at Nora's antics.

"And to our right is the Pecanland Mall. It's got a bunch of stores and fast-food places and-" Nora stopped mid-sentence and gasped, as if the air decided to just stop fueling Nora's motor mouth. But, she regained the ability to talk and turned to raven-haired boy sitting next to her, saying "Ren! Ren, I just remembered they're having a sale on pink skirts today! We have to go! We have to go!"

"Nora, we're touring right now. We can't just stop, it would be rude," Ren said as an attempt to inject logic and sanity to Nora's unfiltered excitement.

"But Reeeennnnnn," Nora pleaded with her long-time friend. He knew Nora's bubbliness wouldn't be easily contained, so he looked back to Jade and Sienna for approval.

"It's fine, you guys can go. I might take a walk to that bookstore we just passed," Jade said. Nora cheered and raised her fist into the air. Ren pulled the Honda into the mall's parking lot and found it a parking spot far and away from any other traffic to avoid collision, as seemingly is tradition with almost every racer. No matter who the driver or what car they race, they would go to any length to protect their pride and joy. Once stopped, the two duos went temporarily went their separate ways, with Nora skipping ahead toward the mall, practically dragging Ren behind her. Meanwhile, Sienna and Jade walked back down the street they just drove down, 27th Street, in order to get Jade to that shop.

"I knew as soon as we passed a bookstore you would want to go visit it," Sienna said to her leader with a grin on her face. Jade smiled back and shrugged, digging both of her hands in her hoodie. "I mean I know it's not your favorite hobby, but it's what you do. I know you so well."

"One day I'll throw you off," Jade said back. "Maybe I'll wear a different beanie." Sienna responded by swiping her beanie off her head and playfully putting it on her own head despite it not fitting over her fox ears. "Hey!" Jade said in objection while committing a rushed attempt in fixing her hair. Sienna laughed and messed her hair up further, making Jade instead fix her green eyes on Sienna. The self-proclaimed "Fastest Fox in Town" finally handed Jade her beanie back, allowing her to put it back on.

"That's only because I care," Sienna said, still giggling slightly.

"Yeah, sure. That's why" Jade softly and teasingly said back at her. Sienna nudged her with her elbow in response and held her tail to feign being hurt. Jade rolled her eyes and went on, "I'm just messing with you. So, what do you think of Vale?"

"Not bad at all," she replied. "Tall buildings, diverse culture, and a lot of friendly people. I mean, just take that Nora. So… full of life. It's definitely a step up from Vacuo. But then again, that isn't hard. What about you?"

"It's so pretty here. I love it. I think Amber and Riley will too. But, I'm not going to judge this place completely until I see how good this bookstore is," Jade said as they approached the small book market. The building was quaint, with the words "TUKSON'S BOOK TRADE" embroidered in gold on a dark green backdrop on the top of the store. Through the windows, also marked with the store's logo, thousands of books lined on many shelves could be seen. Jade walked up to the window and peeked in.

"Let's hope they have what we're looking for," she said before turning around and promptly accidentally bumping into someone exiting the bookstore. Both parties stumbled back slightly, with Sienna catching Jade to make sure she doesn't fall. The girls saw she had knocked into a well-built young man with gray, unkempt and slicked back hair. He was wearing a customized black and silver zip-up jacket and black pants and boots. He also had a bandana draped over one of his legs.

"Oops, I'm so sorry," Jade said.

"Nah, don't worry about it. That was my bad," the stranger responded to her in a carefree manner while dusting off his jacket.

"Hey. Would you have any idea if they have the latest edition of Remnant Torque in there?" Jade asked. The man chuckled and shook his head.

"No clue. I was only in there to look for a book for my friend. I'm usually one who doesn't read unless it's got pictures," he said to joke around, drawing a small snicker from both of the girls before going on. "But, by the way it sounds, you girls must like horsepower. Got that need for speed?"

"Yeah, we work on cars as a pastime," Sienna said while avoiding directly mentioning the races they participate in.

"Cool. I do a bit of the same. It's the reason why I came to Vale from Mistral a couple months back," he said.

"Same for us. We just recently came in from Vacuo to see what Vale was like," Jade told him. "By the way, I'm Jade. This is Sienna." Sienna flashed a "rock on" symbol with her hand at her turn to be introduced and the man nodded in return.

"Name's Mercury," he said to reciprocate the greeting. "Well, I hate to keep you waiting. I should go and get back to that friend before she gets too annoyed with me. Nice meeting you both," he said before turning to leave. The girls waved him off as he left, but unknown to them, Mercury flashed a devious smirk to himself as he walked away.

Within the next 20 minutes, Jade and Sienna had met up once again with their JNPR tour guides back at the Pecanland lot. Jade had gotten three magazines to stock her and her team up with, and Ren was carrying a few bags for Nora.

"How was the store?" Ren asked out of curiosity.

"It was nice. It had just what we needed," Jade said happily.

"Which means Riley will be one happy camper," Sienna said to add on. "We even made a friend while there."

"Awesome!" Nora exclaimed. "Sooooooo, did we do good as tour guides? Do you think you're gonna enjoy Vale?" The two of them looked at each other, then back at Nora, both with positive expressions on their faces.

"I think we're right at home."


	6. Chapter 6: Crystallite

**Phew, college is taxing...**

 **But, since school is finally winding down, I finally had time to prioritize writing again, and now (like 2 months later than I wished) I can finally present this next chapter! As always, I want to thank returning readers for their loyalty and patience, and new readers that made it here alike. Also, a huge shoutout to my friends from being there by my side. This semester has been tough and extremely stressful, but they've had my back this whole time.**

 **This chapter makes me proud because it highlights my own team, Team DASH. They're a clash of personalities that mix every sort of attitude and end up switching the mood in an instant's notice. I'm a proud papa.**

 **~Sage**

* * *

Vale's nightlife ignited as the sun went down, a broken crescent moon taking its place in the now pitch black sky. The heart of the city bustled with vitality, with people going in and out of restaurants, clubs, bars, and various venues throughout the downtown cityscape. A pulse reverberated with the constant rush, as the center jewel of Remnant shone brightly and practically came to life itself. Amidst all of this was one of the most classy and posh hotspots the area had to offer, a restaurant that illuminated the night as much as it namesake implied - The Crystallite.

The outside of the Crystallite was marked by a posh green awning hovering over the grand entrance, headed by the hostess accepting reservations in the door. Palm trees partially surrounded the center fountain, which was a modest size for being sculpted out of marble and being at the forefront of the building. A driveway circled the fountain and led to the canopy leading to the door. The sides of driveway were outlined with some of the most expensive hypercars and luxury cars money can buy, including a Bentley Continental GT, a Pagani Huayra, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, and even a classic 1971 Lamborghini Miura. The _rosso corsa_ Ferrari 458 Italia that pulled into the Crystallite seemed to be right at home.

As the alluring Italian marquee brand car slowed to a stop, a valet walked over to it. When he motioned for the driver to roll down his window, the tinted glass came down a moment later to have the heir to Ospreay Industries staring back at him through his sport-style sunglasses.

"Allow me, sir. I'll leave it out front if you like," the boy said. Dash turned his head to survey the worker, eyeing him up and down as a form of inspection. Everything on the surface seemed to check out for the employee; his uniform was neat and his demeanor was diligent and positive. But, the electric yellow eyes hidden behind the sunglasses took mental note of his every movement, from the smallest twitch of nervousness to measuring the sincerity of his smile. Where most people would trust the valet enough to do his job, Ospreay deemed him not capable enough of handling his precious 458. Dash put on a fake smile and nodded at him while pretending to toss the keys to him. Once the valet took the bait and looked in the air for the keys, Dash's expression straightened to a more serious look and he unceremoniously drove off to park the car around back himself.

 _"Where did they pick up that guy? Straight out the DMV after passing his driving test?"_ Dash thought to himself as he found an adequate parking spot in the secured lot behind the restaurant and got out. Tonight, his trademark baseball jersey was traded out with a red polo shirt to match his hair with the insignia of his father's company embroidered in white on it. He took a moment to dust off his black dress pants before locking the car and circling back to the front.

"Reservation for four, under the name Ospreay," Dash politely said to the hostess as he approached her. She took a moment to look down and scan her list of available names.

"Here it is," she said in reply with a smile. "Right this way. We'll escort the rest of your party when they arrive." She motioned for Dash to follow a waiter, granting him access inside. He walked in behind the waiter and took in the surroundings. Artwork crafted from actual crystals hung from the walls and chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Sounds of the kitchen crew working hard to produce their renowned dishes could be heard. Once they arrived to the table, Dash nodded and thanked him before taking his seat. He grabbed his scroll out of his pocket to see he was a few minutes early, so he decided to start watching a baseball game. On tap was the Windpath Warriors and the Kuchinashi Wolfpack in a rivalry dubbed the Trade Route Rift. After a quick top half of the inning that saw Windpath pitching shut down three straight Wolfpack batters, Dash's attention was grabbed by an arriving Sapphire, whose usual attire was replaced by a royal blue polyester lace-up dress.

"Heeyyyy All-Star," she greeted her team leader, prompting him to smile and roll his eyes at the nickname. Without getting up, he pushed the chair opposite him back so Sapphire could sit down. She rolled her eyes back at him in response to his half-assed attempt at being gentlemanly and takes her seat. "Really? Come on I expect better of a high-class man such as yourself," she said.

"Hey now I'm a great leader most of the times. Only copy my work ethic and take my lead if I'm actually doing a good job," he replied to Sapphire.

"Suuuure," she said in sarcastic agreement. Dash glared at her with eyes flashing an electric yellow, but it quickly dissipated when Sapphire hit him with a big grin and a peace sign pose. He hung and shook his head all the while laughing under his breath. Sapphire nailed a wink before turning around to see Solomon being led in by the same waiter from before. His usual Technomancer hoodie was replaced in favor of a black button up shirt with a deep purple tie around his neck to go in tune with his hair. But, his beloved computer was still strapped to his arm, as if it was business as usual for the garage's resident tech expert.

"See, Solomon? I told ya you'd look good. It's a nice, classic, modest look," Sapphire said, her smile never fading as she walked up to him and fixed his collar. It took him a moment to remove his fixated gaze from his device in order to meet her welcoming face with one of his own, subdued but genuine.

"Yeah, but you could've left the toy at home. You'd look more professional," Dash said smugly before popping his collar theatrically.

"I refuse to sell my soul to gain your world, Dash," he replied only as a slight jab at the lavish lifestyle of his friend. Dash maintained his smirk and motioned for Solomon to take his seat, which he finally did after putting the computer away. Dash checked the time on his gold and silver watch and sighed, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Where the hell is she?" he muttered under his breath.

Another fifteen minutes rolled by. Dash could barely take another moment of waiting, watching as Sapphire scrolled through the latest pictures on her social media and Solomon bobbed his head to the beat of the music that filled his headphones. With each passing second, Dash got more and more fed up with even his own tapping his finger on the table, but it was an involuntary action programmed in his DNA to signal his fading tolerance. When Auburn did finally arrive, Dash thought it would the blessing he had been desperately looking for.

He was wrong.

Once he saw Auburn stroll up to the table with her usual nonchalant swagger, Dash could feel his soul committing social suicide. He couldn't believe she was still clad in her usual outfit of crop top, leather jacket, and cut up black jeans. Judging by the way the waiter and many of the other customers in the restaurant looked at her, neither could they. Dash could only bury his face in his hands, as if not looking at the problem would solve it. Sapphire tried her hardest to stifle a laugh and Solomon cracked a grin.

"Sapphire…" Dash said amidst a sigh, trying to keep his anger in check. "I told you to go get her a nice outfit for tonight. I even gave you the money to do it."

"I did!" she said innocently while losing her control and letting out a giggle. "We picked out a black backless jumpsuit. It was much easier going with that then giving her the idea of a dress."

"Well what did you expect?" Auburn said. "You can take the girl out of Vacuo, but you can't take the Vacuo out of the girl."

"For the love of all that is good, don't put your feet up on the table," Dash said in response, causing her to smirk and chuckle to herself. "And please, let's not mention Vacuo after last night."

"Still caught up on the latest players?" Auburn questioned. "Chill out. Not our deal."

"They interfered in a race they had no business even knowing existed, in a kingdom they have been in for like all of a week, and managed to tear up some cars, including one of ours. So yeah, couldn't help but think that it's our deal," he responded with agitation rising in his tone, bringing all of his teammates to attention.

"It's fine, honestly. I've been working on the car all day, and it's gonna be good to run soon," Sapphire said to chime in. "Besides, the wreck wasn't even her fault. It started in front of us, and was probably more on me for not giving her room. Also my radio was out, so you couldn't warn me. You definitely can't blame that on Jade too." Dash shook his head, not buying into what she was saying.

"No. It wouldn't have happened if she wasn't in the damn race to begin with," he fired back before letting out a sigh of frustration. "And why am I not surprised you know her name already?" The 6-foot girl just shrugged and smiled once again.

"Hey, the more people that show up, the bigger and more fun the party gets," she said excitedly. The racing scene and the party scene were one to her, an atmosphere she crafted from two separate worlds blended together in order to promote fun wherever she went.

"Careful, Sapph…" Solomon softly said to interject himself. "Remember what I told you last night." She simply waved him off, taking his warning as nothing more than paranoia, spoken on behalf of his introversion. He put his head on his hand and looked as if he was debating in his mind why he even bothers sometimes.

"Relaaaax. This is gonna be fun!" she continued, her elation always evident. "I definitely look forward to going up against them again. I need a shot at redemption. Can't have word flying around of me being beat by a newbie." Once she finished her statement, the conversation briefly paused to allow the waiter to take their orders, but once he walked off, Dash was more than eager to pick up where it left off.

"How can you guys take this so lightly?!" Dash asked.

"How are you always this uptight?" Auburn answered with a question of her own. "You make me wanna stick a lamp up your ass so you'll lighten the hell up." After a moment, she came in again, "You're not scared of a little competition, are you? Don't think we can handle it?"

"It's not that! Just, look…" Dash stopped for a second to collect his thoughts. "I'm a businessman by blood. I've spent 18 years observing my dad, studying his habits, learning his tricks and what he would do in different situations. Ospreay Industries didn't just pop up overnight, and I've always wanted to imitate the work ethic that made it happen. When a new competitor entered the market, my dad considered it an intrusion, a personal attack against his share of the spoils." The other three listened to him silently until the waiter interrupted once more to deliver them their food. Once that momentary interruption passed, he continued.

"This is more than just a game or a fun little hobby. This is a market. There's a lot at stake every time we strap in for a race. Money, parts, reputation. People can forge a street empire from doing this. I'll be damned if I let some random punks from Vacuo ruin our reputation." Auburn yawned once he finished this, then turned her head to her team leader to see he was finished.

"Oh, sorry. I phased out at the end there," she said with uninterested mock enthusiasm. Dash tried his hardest to keep the growl that left his mouth under his breath. Auburn smirked at her team leader as she unleashed one of the best talents - getting under his skin. "Just kidding," she went on to put him at ease. "But sometimes you really do take this way too seriously. You can't just do anything because, y'know, it's fun?"

"Really? I thought you of all people would be concerned about reputation. You always want to look your strongest in front of everyone, don't you?" Dash said back.

"Of course I do!" Auburn shot back. "I just see no reason to be concerned about the new kids on the block is all."

"You should be careful anyways," Solomon finally spoke up once again. "New faces have more authority than accustomed ones." Auburn stopped at this statement and took a moment to reflect, even resting from her meal to do so. But, her only response was raising her shoulders to dismiss the thought as she continued to devour her dinner.

"Ok, so? I'll just handle it like I always do," she said. Dash turned and looked at her quizzically

"What are you suggesting?" he said.

"Fearless leader! You look upon me for guidance? I am humbled and honored for this esteemed opportunity!" Auburn said while evolving her smug smirk into a laugh she couldn't just keep inside anymore.

"Auburn!" Dash groaned and tilted his head back in his chair out of exasperation, inducing everyone else to laugh along with her. After taking a moment to catch her breath and recover herself, Auburn decided to actually address Dash's curiosity.

"If you really want the answer, my little Dashy, it's simple. Just do what I always do. Fight back against authority, look strong, and kick ass," Auburn said with a tinge of confidence in her voice.

"Auburn, you do realize you can't solve every problem with brute force, right?" Dash said. "Sometimes power under the hood or power from your fists won't be able to fix something and when that day comes, you'll be in trouble."

"That's why she's got us!" Sapphire added.

"Well, you're not wrong, I suppose," Dash said with a proud smile forming on his face. "No one messes with my team. You know I've got all of your backs, right?" Sapphire gave him a delighted thumbs up. Solomon nodded in agreement. Auburn wagged her bushy fox tail and nodded with a sense of readiness for whatever comes next.

"Dash, if you really wanna establish yourself, then call them out," Auburn told him. Dash stopped and delivered a confused look, making her roll her eyes and explain herself. "Next time they decide to show up, and you know they will, call them out to a 1v1 race. It'll catch attention at least."

"Ooooh, a bit of friendly rivalry?" Sapphire said slyly. "Or is it gonna be not so friendly?"

"Doesn't matter to me either way," the faunus replied. "Maybe it depends on how they react. I know I'm gonna challenge that liar though." When everyone seemed lost by this, Auburn added by muttering under her breath, still loud enough for everyone at the table to hear, "Yeah, 'Fastest Fox In Town' my ass! Everyone in Vale knows who that name belongs to."

"Hmmmm. You're on to something though, Foxy," Dash said while nodding.

"I always am, Bubblegum," Auburn said in response, making Dash self-conscious of his hair. He pushed his hair to the side in attempt to fix it, then turned back to glare at her.

"It's red!" he said in his defense. Sapphire burst out into a fit of giggling again, this one so strong that it almost sent her out of her chair. It took her a good twenty seconds for her to calm down enough to the point where she could actually formulate her thoughts into words.

"I love this team," she said happily.

"Speaking of which," Solomon again interjected, all the while maintaining a smile of his own due to his teammates' antics. "We need to keep something in mind. That Sienna girl did mention that Jade was a team leader. So that means-"

"There's two more fresh faces to meet!" Sapphire cut him off, just as excitedly as before. "I heard that one of them gained notice for always carrying a weapon in the trunk of the car. And if anyone dares to mess with any members of the team, WHAM! That thing comes out."

"Spinning the rumor mill, 24/7, our own inside reporter, Sapphire Hyacinth," Solomon said, flashing a bit of wit to not be outdone by his friends tonight.

"Shut uuuup," Sapphire said while also lightly pushing him. He only shook his head and looked down at his device in an attempt to play innocent, but it was an attempt that Sapphire wasn't having. Without another second's warning, she swiped the computer from him, taking advantage of the fact that he undid the straps in order to eat. Dash's eyes widen with surprise as he and Auburn both laugh.

"Go get him, Sapph!" Auburn cheered her on before taking the last bite of her meal. She pushed the plate away and let out a belch that was loud and noticeable enough to force Dash to faceplant into the table due to embarrassment. "Well, not bad. Still would've preferred just ordering a pizza to the garage though." The other two indicated consensus with this,.

"But that's next time," Auburn continued. "Back to the matter at hand, I need to show off who is the real dominant fox in this city. She has no idea what she's dealing with." She fired off her signature "rock on" gesture, almost as if it was the signal that whatever rivalry was budding had kicked off. She stretched her arms as she got out of her chair and stood up. "Well, I think we've caused enough hell in this restaurant for one night. What about you guys?" Dash mouthed "Thank God" as Sapphire covered her mouth with her hand to cover up one last snicker for the night. The four walked out the Crystallite, and seemingly everyone inside felt the atmosphere ease, like a collective sigh of relief was let out once they exited.

"So, race home?" Sapphire said, hoping to incite some impromptu competition of her own. They all froze for a second, exchanged glances, then bolted off in different directions, not afraid to give each other a little push or shove before doing so. In an instant, the air in the city kicked into overdrive and the life of the constant rush jumpstarted one more time, as four motorized blurs sped off into the night.


	7. Chapter 7: Wolf Fang, Bull Horn

**WE'RE BACK BABY!**

 **Sorry this one has been a long time coming. Let's just say that the will to write had evaded me for some time for various reasons. But, hopefully instead of avoiding it, I can use this as a crutch to get me through tough times.**

 **It's been a while, so I owe Happy Birthdays to myself, my writing partner Jade, and my other friend Olivia, whose characters make their Ignition debut! It warms my heart to see my friends invest in what I do and offer creative help and characters and such. You guys keep me going. Anyways, Auburn belongs to me, Ash and Violet belong to Olivia, everyone else belongs to the beautiful RWBY crew. Hope you guys like it!**

 **~Sage**

* * *

Speeding away from the vibrant surge downtown produced nightly, an orange and black Dodge Challenger Hellcat roared down an old street in the warehouse district. The muscle car easily turned the road into a makeshift drag strip, as 707 horsepower and 650 pounds of torque churned out by its 6.2 liter V8 engine sent it down its path at high speeds. Just as confidently as the car flashed past warehouses, the driver smirked, feeling the immense strength with a tightened grip on the steering wheel. Auburn felt at home knowing that she could conquer these roads without any worry of someone hearing her. But, not all of the various storage buildings were left quiet.

The sounds of the Challenger echoing throughout the area stirred one warehouse into particular. Several men and women, attired in matching outfits all marked with the same logo, stopped what they were doing almost simultaneously upon hearing the roar of the Hemi engine. Everyone turned to another masked figure, this one a female with brown hair bunched into a ponytail behind her special horned mask. She had a black hoodie branded with the same insignia in one hand, and wore a navy blue sleeveless stealth suit that hugged her smaller frame tightly. She followed the sound with her eyes, tracking it as the car's rumble grew softer and softer until it faded away into the distance.

"All clear," the girl said to the squadron of others looking upon her. "Be ready to mobilize. I want to have this started within the hour." Her voice carried an icy determination, each word serving as reassurance of who was in charge of this outfit. "He will not tolerate failure from us. Not again." She paused for a moment, almost as if to recollect the events of the past in her mind, before slowing going down the stairs to ground level. There, she turned to face an entire fleet of black Toyota GT86s and Subaru BRZs, some looking barebones stock and others wearing various body kits and modifications.

"Need I remind you the consequences of if we do not complete our task?!" she suddenly exclaimed to all the workers, prompting them to seemingly double their work rate. Somewhat pleased, she shifted her focus away from the flurry of activity and walked toward a closed off private garage. The door raised open, allowing her to walk in, then quickly shut, leaving her with her matters to tend to.

* * *

The clock struck 11 PM, an hour past closing time at Tukson's Book Trade - "home to every book under the sun," as the slogan went. The man behind the store's name, Tukson, stayed behind to unpack boxes of this week's donations. Luckily, his two coworkers accompanied him, shelving what he was pulling out of the boxes.

"Sorry I kept you this late, girls," Tukson said apologetically. "Hope you aren't too mad at me." On cue, a wolf faunus girl poked her silver-haired head over the top shelf that was in front of Tukson and met him with welcoming orange eyes.

"Nawwwwww you're good boss!" the energetic Ash Lykos said to the store's owner and proprietor. When Tukson shrugged, again suggesting need to be sorry, Ash only met it with a toothy grin, flashing off some powerful looking fangs. She climbed her way onto the top shelf and sat down there, her combat boot clad feet dangling from her new spot. "Besides, what were me and Violet going to do anyways? We'd probably just head home and do nothing but talk and talk and just be bored and..," her voice awkwardly trailed off as her brain couldn't keep up with her mouth. She then turned and looked down to the end of the shelf to see leaning on it a petite panther faunus with black hair tipped purple. Her dark blue eyes still somehow shimmered in the dark room, and a small grin came across her face as she shook her head.

"Geez, Ash, reel yourself back in. It's not a scene from a movie where the two bond over a night and fall in love," Tukson said.

"More like the murder scene from a horror movie. Teen kills roommate in order to achieve quiet," the cool and analytical Violet Wunder spoke. More often than not, her silence seemed to be broken with a witty one-liner. It usually shocked most unexpecting people that take note of her shy and meek nature, but it was a practice that Ash and Tukson were both used to at this point. Ash simply shrugged it off and made a heart gesture with her hands.

Tukson warmly smiled at the duo's antics. Seeing the two of them come into work every day and getting to interact with them was easily one of the highlights of his daily life. In one of her infamous rambles, Ash mentioned how they couldn't find stability after coming to Vale from Menagerie. Coming from Menagerie himself, Tukson related to their story all too well. He recalled his struggle to find a job and try to make a new life in Vale. He quickly learned that even in a place like Vale, discrimination can take many forms. He fell down a wrong path along the way, and while he gained financial traction, he was not proud of how he did it and tried to turn his life around. Luckily, a stroke of luck and a local bookstore either looking for new management or facing foreclosure, Tukson had rightfully settled in. He had hoped to give Ash and Violet the same opportunity he received, to keep them off the streets.

To keep them from making the same mistakes he did.

"Last ones are up, boss!" Ash exclaimed. "Ready to call it a night?"

"Not yet," Tukson said. "I have something to give you two." Ash's wolf ears instantly perked up and her eyes flared with excitement. She jumped off the shelf and leaned over the table that Tukson was working at, impatiently waiting.

"Oooooh you got us a present? Is it big? Can I eat it? Is it-," Ash pondered aloud before Violet clasped a hand over her mouth. Violet rolled her eyes as Ash continued to try and question about the gift despite her words being muffled.

"What'd you get us?" Violet asked, a heartfelt smile coming across her face. Tukson reached for a pair of small boxes under the table and handed one to her and the other to Ash.

"Sorry they aren't wrapped," Tukson said jokingly. Ash quickly claimed her box and wasted little time tearing the tape off of the top of it. She opened it up and reached into it to feel a small metal object fit into her hand. She pulled her hand out and showed off a key, attached to it a keychain of the store's logo.

"They were supposed to be done sooner but they were delayed for some reason," Tukson said. "Just in case you girls beat me here in the morning." Ash again showed off her fangs in a goofy smile as Violet retrieved her key and took a moment to examine it before slipping it in her pocket.

"Wow," Violet said, trying to form a response. "This actually means a lot, thank you. You sure you trust us to run the store when you're not here though?"

"Of course. You guys took just as much of a chance in staying with my fledgling bookstore just as much as I took a chance in hiring you," Tukson said in happy reply. "I have no regrets in bringing you here. I think you'll be perfectly fine with customers if I'm not here."

"Yeah!" Ash said. "You saw how I was today with those two girls that came in! They were so much fun to talk to! And there was that boy with the silver hair, I think he liked me too!" Tukson smiled but his eyes drifted down for a moment, uncaught by Ash or Violet. He looked back up and nodded at the active wolf faunus.

"Again, you sure you want to trust us with the store at any point?" Violet again asked, this time through laughter as she was gesturing to Ash's abundance of liveliness. Tukson just laughed with her but nodded his head in confirmation.

"Listen, you girls are like family to me. I fully trust you with this. You're tougher than you'll ever give yourselves credit for," Tukson told them. They both approached him and wrapped him up in a hug, which Tukson reciprocated, pulling them close. After a couple of moments, the parties broke away. "Now you should probably get going before it gets even later."

Ash nodded and slid on her navy blue jacket while handing Violet her purple scarf, and the two waved goodbye to Tukson one more time before setting off into the chilly night. Violet looked back at him then down at the key one more time before turning the corner. Tukson smiled until they were out of sight, then looked down with tears welling in his eyes. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath to regain his composure

" _I'm sorry,"_ he thought. _"I love you girls. That's why I have to do this. Stay safe and stay together."_

* * *

2 AM. The hours flew by. The shattered moon was now in its usual forefront over the land, watching over the land below. The woods sat quietly, with most of its inhabiting creatures asleep until dawn comes again. However, there was one who disturbed the peace of the night: Tukson.

The bookstore owner had spent the past few hours loading up his reliable Chevrolet Colorado ZL1 with as many belongings as he deemed appropriate to bring. He was seemingly racing against time almost as fast as his heart was racing in his chest. He even began to grow paranoid that he was forgetting something important because he was going so fast, the night morphing into a rushed haze that he couldn't entirely recall. All he could remember was the embrace with Ash and Violet, the memory on endless repeat in his head with every miniscule detail as vivid as possible. He shook his head, sighed, and tried to refocus himself.

"Alright," he muttered to himself as he finished securing everything in the tailgate. He climbed into the driver seat and did one last inventory check. He opened the glove compartment and pulled out a map of Sanus, marked in red with a route to a location in Vacuo. Snacks sat in the backseat behind him for the long road trip awaiting him. He checked his wallet to make sure he had his ID and ample funds. One tap on the scroll illuminated the screen to show the time was 2:05. He gave the screen one long look, his lock screen being him and the two girls in front of the store, and with that, he started up the truck and pulled out the driveway, leaving his Vale home behind.

For as late of an hour as it was, Tukson was wide awake, fueled by a mixture of adrenaline and determination. Although, if everything went according to plan, it should've been an uneventful drive to the westernmost kingdom in Remnant. However, ten minutes into the trip, he already ran into a hitch as he approached a sign that read in capital letters "ROAD CLOSED".

"Strange..." Tukson said as he curiously leaned over to see no visible problems with the road ahead. However, he turned to his right and saw a dirt path leading through the woods. Seeing no other option and knowing that his Colorado was more than prepared for the off-road terrain, Tukson pulled off onto the detour.

Tukson could feel his heart slowly begin to beat faster. His anxiety rose once again, as it seemed everything that could go wrong passed through his mind all in that exact moment. The detour through the forest tampered with his psyche, as he couldn't have predicted it, and now the severity of his situation combined with the eeriness of his dark surroundings. He felt like something was off, but couldn't pinpoint what. And then it hit him.

The darkness was suddenly erased by a huge light shining through the Chevy's windshield. Tukson covered his eyes and looked away until his eyes adjusted and the lights dimmed. He looked forward to see several pairs of headlights coming from cars painted too dark to fully see. A switch to his brights displayed several masked figures all on the ready in their GT-86s and BRZs, and one Toyota Supra in the center, with the female squadron leader standing on the hood.

Tukson's eyes widened and his heart went from pounding to near stopping completely. His anxiety-ridden nightmare seemingly came to life before his eyes. When the brunette woman removed her mask and a pair of steel colored eyes looked back at him, his complexion turned into one of rage and his grip tightened to the steering wheel to the point where his hand turned red.

"Ilia…" he muttered to himself. His foot creeped onto the accelerator but never pressed down on it. He never broke eye contact with the woman he called Ilia, and the seconds long staredown felt like years. It took Ilia raising a pistol and aiming it at Tukson's forehead to get him to react. The moment she pulled the trigger, Tukson slammed on the pedal and serpentined left. The bullet missed him by inches, shattering the windshield and covering him in shards of glass. Tukson, now incensed, floored it straight ahead, forcing Ilia to take evasive action rather than line up another shot. She jumped off of the hood of the Supra and landed on the side of the road as Tukson plowed through the roadblock, wrecking the front ends of both his truck and the Supra.

"After him! Do not let him escape!" Ilia screamed in agony as she tried to stand up but wobbled and fell to one knee, leading to her clutching the other one.

Tukson had his eyes glued to his mirrors more than the road in front of him. He saw two pairs of headlights grow bigger in each of his sideview mirrors, and they began to illuminate him through his rear window. He knew his truck couldn't outrun or outmaneuver the speedier tuners, but he could outmuscle them. One BRZ pulled up to the left of him and began firing bullets at him as well. Tukson quickly ducked as one broke through that window and hit the roof. Tukson yanked the wheel hard left and rammed the Subaru off the road, causing it to collide head on with a sturdy tree.

Tukson smirked in his mirror before focusing on the second assailant. He noticed the driver pull out a gun and start aiming for his tires. Tukson quickly swerved unpredictably to make him miss before coming up with an idea. He suddenly stomped both feet on the brakes, checking the widebody GT-86 giving chase to him. It rams into the back of him, crumpling the hood and crippling its performance. Meanwhile, the Colorado was tough enough to barely take any damage and keep going just fine.

He glanced in his mirrors again to see nothing coming after him, but slowing down never even crossed his mind as a possibility. The only priority Tukson had now was getting out of Vale undetected.

" _Maybe if I can get off of this road, I can lose them. Then, easy sailing to Vacuo,"_ Tukson thought in an attempt to stay positive. But, when his gaze looked back up on the road, he gasped when he noticed a car pulling out in between two trees right in front of his lane. He tried to veer out the way, but his large front end clipped the front end of the low car. The high speed impact sent him into a violent roll, his truck tumbling several times down the road before suddenly stopping upside down by smashing into a tree.

Tukson groaned weakly, pain overcoming him to the point where he couldn't yell any louder. He undid his seatbelt and collapsed onto the roof. Crawling out of where the door once was before it was torn off its hinges, he put a hand on his forehead just to pull back with a pool of blood in his hand. He could hear the car's fluids leaking onto the ground. The car that clipped him approached him, and soon the wounded Tukson found himself staring at the headlights of a Lamborghini Gallardo. The car remarkably had sustained almost no damage from the crash it just took.

The door flew open, and out stepped a man clad in a black suit with red pinstripes, with a blood red tie to match. His red hair was groomed in windswept spikes, and in that hair laid a pair of bull horns. Like the other attackers Tukson faced off against earlier, he also wore a mask, his unique to all the others. The man also carried a shotgun in hand, with a rose graphic and the word "Blush" engraved in cursive on the handle. The man crouched down in front of Tukson without saying a word.

"Adam…" Tukson shakily mustered to say. The one he called Adam didn't react, only watching him suffer through that mask.

"We had been watching you for quite a while Tukson," Adam finally spoke after a moment. "You had opened up a bookstore in Vale, right? Then you of all people should know that the most dangerous thing someone can have is knowledge." Tukson only sputtered and coughed up blood in response. "Simply put, you know too much. You know far too much for us to just let you desert our cause and run away. If word were to get out of the things you've seen, well… it would be more than detrimental to the Fang."

"Please…," Tukson replied. "I told you I wasn't going to tell anyone, and I never have. But…," he paused, trying his best to come up with the strength to even finish. "But I didn't want any part of it. I just wanted out."

"What you want is impossible," Adam said back coldly.

"Your empire… is built on the blood and bones of others. And when it finally comes crashing down around you, I can't wait for the book telling of its demise hitting my store's shelves," Tukson said in defiance.

"The White Fang is a force of revolution!" Adam shouted back, anger evident in his voice as he grips his shotgun. "And we will light those fires by any means necessary. We will change the world, and we will destroy anyone that dares oppose us!" The click signaled to Tukson that the gun was now loaded.

"You just better hope those two girls that accompanied you don't oppose us," Adam said, an evil smirk coming across his face. Tukson's eyes widened in fear and worry at the mention of them coming from the White Fang leader. Before another word, Adam fired the gun into the puddle of gasoline, engulfing Tukson in a raging blaze. Adam took a few steps back and watched the former member's final moments of trying to get out of the flames somehow. Then, an explosion cut off his feeble attempt, silencing Tukson forever.

Adam turned his back and watched as a couple of squad cars approached him, one being driven by Ilia. She stepped out, trying not to display any signs of pain from the previous encounter.

"Clean the evidence. Make it look like an accident. You know the drill," Adam said while walking past her, not even looking at her. Ilia nodded in affirmation and yelled for the two workers with her to get to work. Adam closed the door to his Gallardo and stared at the wreckage one last time before callously driving off, his mood unphased from before.

The next morning, several police officers and fire trucks arrived at the scene. The firefighters made sure to put out the inferno that had engulfed a small area of trees. The officers tried to piece together what happened, but with no evidence at their disposal, they were stumped. Meanwhile, back on the main road, one Mitsubishi Lancer with Ruby and Weiss inside stopped at seeing the plume of black smoke in the distance.

"Whoa, what's that?" Ruby asked, half out of worry and half out of curiosity.

"Probably just a house fire," Weiss said, trying not to show too much care but was also caught in gazing at the smoke.

"Should we go check it out?" Ruby again asked her icy-haired friend.

"Ruby, you dolt! We'll just get in the way! Or worse, we'll get in trouble when the cops see your car and think that we're racers," Weiss said back again in slight agitation. Ruby just nodded and drove off again, but she and Weiss both couldn't help but look back in their mirrors one more time as the fire disappeared behind them.


	8. Chapter 8: This Is War

**Back at it again with the fast cars and action! College can't keep me down! It always feels good to come back with a new chapter. As always, DASH is mine. Also always, thanks to Jade for not only moitvating me and pushing me along the writing process, but for letting me bring JASR to the world of Ignition. Fun fact: you can now read some JASR adventures on Jade's fanfic (found Gruntnuker)! If you like this, you should go read their stuff too! Do it! DO IT! DOOOOOO IIIITTTTT!**

 **Anyways, enjoy! ~Sage**

* * *

1 new video message: Coco Adel

"Attention you band of misfits! It seems what we're doing is drawing some recognition. With more people making their way to Vale to race, competition is at an all-time high. With that, team loyalty is causing some tension. So, why don't we settle this the only way we know how? This weekend, at the old airstrip, we're gonna have some fun. We'll have everything from a drag tournament to drift races in the hills. Even though we all know my team and I are gonna win, we still hope you guys come out!"

It had been almost a week and a half since the Vale group last got together, and as always the itch to race came back. This was especially true for the RWBY garage, as they ended up facing off against their biggest rival: boredom. So when the residing race organizer and the confident CFVY leader appeared on every scroll screen in the garages, they were especially raring to answer the call.

"Aaaaaaaaa I'm so excited!" Ruby said, practically squealing with excitement. She was currently laying upside down on the sofa, her black socks in the air and her head dangling close enough to the ground for her short hair to scrape the living room carpet. Her scroll was in hand still, as she was scanning through incoming messages like the blood rushing to her head meant nothing. Zwei sat next to her, tilting his head in confusion at his owner's silliness until a loud banging perked his ears up and turned his attention somewhere else. Yang smiled at her sister's infectious energy but didn't look up, instead keeping focused on finishing the repairs on Blake's RX-7.

"Yeah, it's about time we had Vale's own edition of Race Wars," Yang said in reply. Standing up and tying her hair into a ponytail, she nodded and stepped back to admire her work. "Finally done," she said to herself with hands on hips before letting out a sigh of relief and smiling contently. After spending weeks of trying to make amends for her recklessness, Yang had finally felt that she was on even ground with her team once again. And as if on cue, Blake made her entrance from her bedroom upstairs, still dressed in her black nightgown and rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Good morning, kitten!" Yang sang as Blake made her way downstairs. At the bottom step, Blake stopped mid-yawn and glared at the blonde, her hazy post-sleep aura immediately replaced by one of subdued frustration. But as usual, she only shook her head and dismissed Yang's antics.

"It's too early for this, Yang. At least let me make some tea first," Blake said while making her way to the black and white checker tiled kitchen area. After rummaging through a couple of cabinets for her supplies, she set her teapot down on the stove before joining Yang in the garage area. Yang motioned to the RX7 in an over-the-top manner, showing Blake that the fenders are looking good as new.

"Ta-daaaaaaaa," she said. Blake briefly flashed a genuine and heartfelt smile at Yang before looking down at her tapping her foot on the floor as she thought of a decent enough response.

"Yang… you really didn't have to do this. You have nothing to really apologize to any of us for," Blake said.

"Yeah!" Ruby said while popping her head over the sofa next to Zwei. "It's not like we're ever kicking you out! You're my sister! Besides that would make for an awkward Thanksgiving." She stuck her tongue out in a silly smile and rubbed the back of her head, a maneuver that usually swayed Yang to giggle, but she was only left irritated.

"Then how come you've been holding me back from racing?!"

"Because we were worried about you!" Ruby said in reply. When Yang's look of exasperation abated and she looked at Ruby curiously, Blake intervened.

"Yang, you are very passionate and emotional in everything you do. It's helped you to be a great driver, and while we love that about you, it can be your biggest downfall. Sometimes you drive led by your aggression, and it's going to end up getting you hurt," she said. When Yang's lilac eyes gazed down sadly, Blake walked over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, causing Yang to look back up. "We only did it because we care."

"You sure about that..?" Yang asked, a mumble barely escaping from under her breath. Blake then put both her hands on Xiao Long's shoulders and forced Yang to face her. Her face remained stern, seemingly taking her question of faith as a personal offense.

"Yes," Blake said reassuringly, all the while not realizing how close she was keeping Yang to her. Yang did not seem to object, however, as she simply let out a sigh, one half relieved that this could finally be behind her, the other half pleased at Blake's genuine concern for her. All she had to give was a one-word answer, but that one word seemingly eased all of Yang's worries. For the first time in months, Yang felt like she was on the same page with her friends.

"So," she finally said. "Does this mean you guys have no problem with me racing again?"

"Hmmmmm nope! No problem here!" Ruby said, injecting her sister with even more pride. Blake, not backing away, gave Yang an encouraging thumbs up as her answer. But even this wasn't enough to boost Yang completely, as she knew there was still one obstacle left from getting on the racetrack again.

"2 out of 3 votes. But I doubt Weiss would even think about trusting me anytime soon…" she said. A giggle from Ruby kept her attention shifted up rather than wistfully back down at her feet. Ruby kipped up off the sofa and onto her feet before practically skipping to the front entrance.

"I don't think she'll have any problem with it actually," she said before flashing her scroll to Yang. The screen displayed that she was in a phone call with Weiss, and it had been going on for several minutes already. She hung up the call, then flipped the switch to open the garage doors. Gleaming from the sunny day was none other than Weiss in her Audi R8, once again looking pristine enough for a showroom floor. The driver side door opened and the heir to Schnee Dust Company stepped out, a distinct clack coming from her heel meeting the floor. Taking a step back, she smirked as she surveyed the now repaired supercar.

"Harley did such a good job as always," she said to herself before facing Yang with an annoyed expression. Yang stood her ground, but couldn't exactly face Weiss directly as she expected a scolding typical from the Ice Queen.

"Of course you're racing, you idiot! If we're going to show Vale who is the best team around, we're going to have to do it together." This response jolted Yang's head back up so she can watch Weiss saunter towards her and go on.

"We know you're capable of being one of the best racers in Vale. You're one of the biggest reasons a racing scene even exists here! We know it's what you love to do, but you should know as well as anyone how much of a risk we take anytime we strap in. Driving angry is basically wishing to get caught by the cops. Or worse…" Weiss trailed off, and it became more than apparent to Yang just how much concern she was displaying for her. She closed her eyes, cracked her neck, then glanced back up, eyes flared crimson.

"Thank you guys. I appreciate it, really. But it's been a long time coming for us. Let's kick some ass and look good doing it! We're going to take Race Wars!"

* * *

Even with the early wakeup call they tried to get, Team RWBY was still one of the last teams to arrive at the abandoned Tourmaline Airfield. The four of them pulled up to the entrance, once marked by a chain link fence topped with barbed wire that had long since been torn off its hinges. On the right side of the gate stood Yatsuhashi's lifted Dodge Ram 1500, its driver leaning on the back door. Velvet was sat in the tailgate, as she spent the time happily speaking with her partner until she turned her focus to the new arrivals.

"Hey guys!" Ruby said from out her driver side window. Velvet waved and Yatsuhashi softly nodded.

"Glad you could make it," Velvet said. Yang drove up beside Ruby and stopped in between her and Yatsu.

"Ya know Yatsu," she said while peering over her aviators. "If you ever get tired of being gentle with the little bunny, you can always step up and get a real fun night." Yang pushed her sunglasses back up and shot the giant CFVY member with finger guns. Yatsuhashi could only facepalm and shake his head, mainly to hide his subtle blush.

"Hey!" Velvet defensively said before instinctively clutching to Yatsu's arm. Blake had to fight every urge in her body to just accelerate towards the Camaro and push it along, keeping her away from them.

"No! Bad Yang!" Ruby said in a feeble attempt to control her sister. She simply turned to look at Velvet and they exchanged shrugs, both knowing full well that Yang could not be stopped. Velvet then got in the Lancer's passenger seat and Yatsu stepped aside, allowing them inside Tourmaline. They all rolled in and surveyed the teams that had already arrived: JNPR, CFVY, DASH, and JASR. Ruby pulled into their normal spot beside their JNPR friends.

"We were starting to think you weren't going to show up," Jaune said with a bright smile on his face as Ruby and Velvet stepped out. The rest of RWBY fell in line and parked next to her.

"What? And miss this? You wish!" Ruby said back.

"Getting tired of second place behind us, Jauney boy?" Weiss taunted as she joined her leader's side.

"Weiss, it seems you're forgetting our race on the cliffs. The one where I distinctly remember you looking at my taillights the whole time," Pyrrha said as she emerged to join the conversation and defend her team in the light-hearted jokes. She wrapped an arm around Jaune's shoulders and smirked at him before turning to stare down their friendly rivals. Jaune took a step forward and held out his arms to try and end the jabbing.

"Well we won't be debating much longer," he said. "Coco told me they plan to have a race among the team leaders. So have fun going for second behind the Yellow Jacket!" Ruby cupped a hand over her mouth but couldn't help herself as she burst into laughter. Even Pyrrha let out a small giggle, one that she quickly tried to hide when Jaune turned to her. "What? Why is that funny? Yang calls her motorbike Bumblebee!"

"Because I can easily make you my bee-otch," Yang confidently said as she strutted towards him. Jaune drew back slightly but tried his hardest to play off any signs of alarm. Satisfied, Yang simply chuckled to herself then returned to her teammates' sides.

Meanwhile, Coco was making her rounds and collecting money from each team. Once she made her way to JASR, she pulled Jade aside and invited her to join in her walk.

"So, how's Vale treating you guys so far?" she asked Jade, looking up from the stack of cash she had collected.

"Not bad. It's definitely nicer than Vacuo here. Now we just have to see how fun it is," Jade said back.

"I don't think you'll be disappointed," Coco said with a smile and a nod. Before she could ask more, her scroll sounded off from her pocket. Pulling it out of her pocket, she glanced at the caller ID that read "Big Guy."

"What's up, Yatsu?" she said once she answered the call. A pause followed, and Coco's smile slowly faded. "Alright, I'm coming," she said eventually before sliding the phone back into her pocket and making her way to the gate. Jade curiously followed, and the two lightly continued their conversation until they reached Yatsuhashi. He had two people stopped at the gate, each flanked by their respective cars: Mercury Black in his Nissan Silvia S15 and Emerald Sustrai and her Pontiac Solstice. Coco stopped and stared the two down from over her sunglasses, but neither of them looked phased.

"How did you hear about this?" she asked the duo.

"Just through the grapevine," Emerald vaguely but politely said in response. Coco and Yatsuhashi both exchanged glances at one another, neither of them seeming to buy their reason.

"Ok fine, I'll ask a different question, and I better get an actual answer for it. Why should I let you two into an event you had no business knowing about," she said more sternly than her last question.

"I thought you guys were all about welcoming competition. And with all the competition you have, stuff like this is really hard to keep secret," Emerald said in her own defense.

"Well you're not welcome competition when you race dirty," Coco said before turning on her heel and glaring at the silver-haired Mercury. He stepped back and held up his hands defensively.

"Hey, hey, how's a man supposed to change that reputation if he isn't given the chance? Why do you think I'm here?" he said coolly. Obviously uninterested in Coco's scolding, Mercury peered over her shoulder to see Jade. He excitedly waved at her and put on a smile. Jade returned the favor, but much more shyly, not sure what to now think of him given what Coco said. Coco glanced toward Jade then back at Mercury a couple times, confusion taking over.

"Wait, you know him?" she said.

"Kinda, I guess. I met him downtown last week, and we didn't talk much," Jade said softly. "He seemed pretty cool to me at the time though." Taking off her sunglasses and putting them on her head, Coco looked down in thought. After a couple of moments, she motioned for Yatsu to move aside and let Emerald and Mercury in.

"I guess you enjoyed our conversation more than I thought," Mercury said while walking back to his Silvia, a tinge of smugness escaping from his tone. Coco growled but Yatsu gave her a reassuring nod, as if to ensure that nothing will come from them. Jade stood there awkwardly, unsure of what she had just done. As he passed by, Mercury lightly put a hand on her shoulder, then directed a smirk toward Emerald, hidden from anyone else's view.

Jade uncomfortably walked back to her team. She passed by Solomon, who was using his super scroll to sync the timing lines for their makeshift drag strip. As Jade went by, he momentarily looked up from his task to see that JASR was in full force this time. The one he remembered being called Sienna stood next to a black and blue Ford Mustang GT500, chatting to one of the members Solomon didn't recognize. The girl stood a few inches taller than Sienna, near Dash's height, had short red hair covering one eye, and was wearing a hockey sweater marked with a logo with the letter "R" on it. She was walking back and forth between getting tools from the back of a similarly colored Holden Sandman wagon, and working under the hood of an orange Mazda RX-7 FD. The fourth team member, who he presumed to be the driver of the Mazda, was leaning on the driver side door. She was short, not even looking like she reached 5 feet tall. Her orange hair barely rolled past her shoulders and she was in a half orange, half black hoodie.

A sudden tap on the shoulder interrupted Solomon's thoughts and brought him back to reality. It was his team leader Dash.

"Did we get a bracket for the drag races yet?" he asked Solomon. He shook his head in response before trying to refocus himself onto the screen before him. Dash looked up and tried to follow what Solomon was looking at before, and he groaned loudly at the sight of a full Team JASR.

"Yeah sure go right ahead just bring everyone from Vacuo it's no problem," he muttered to himself. Before Solomon even realized, he was watching Dash storm his way toward their camp. Solomon only held out his arms in disbelief before begrudgingly picking up his scroll and following him.

"Oh how convenient," Dash said, catching all the girls' attention. "You have a mechanic on hand to fix all the cars you end up trashing."

"Um… ok?" the redhead said amidst a chuckle while under the hood. "That supposed to mean something?"

"Don't listen to him, Riley," Sienna said to jump into the discussion. "Fancypants over here probably just put his Thursday pair of panties on a Saturday." Dash squinted at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him with a mischievous grin in response.

"You really think you can just walk in here and do whatever you want?" Dash said.

"Isn't that what you do with your money every day? Flaunting around a $250,000 overrated Italian bucket of crap?"

"The pedals are too soft, there's too many assists, and it sounded stock when I heard you drive in," Riley added. "You have no actual racing control. I bet Jade's Toyota can easily outrun that thing for a fraction of the price you paid." Dash's eyes flared with anger but he held his hands behind his back.

"Am I really supposed to take you seriously when you're wearing a dumb hockey jersey? Support a real sport."

"Is that really the best you could come up with?" Riley said, now laughing even harder than before. "Hockey taught me so much. Like how to knock a rich boy's teeth out if he insults my friends."

"Look if you want to point out how much you 'tore up the Vacuo scene' then why don't you band of punks and thugs go back to that wasteland?" Dash said.

"Hey! That 'wasteland' is our home! And last time I checked the Atlesian upper class weren't exactly helping the situation," Sienna said. She stepped forward and fronted Ospreay, as if she was squaring for a fight. However, the girl with orange hair finally intervened, lightly trying to break the two up.

"Get away from me!" Dash yelled at her. When he turned to face her, rather than confront Dash like her teammates, she shied away. But this did not sway him, and he continued to back her down until her back was to the door of the Mazda. Solomon read the worry in her eyes and decided enough was enough. He grabbed Dash by the back of his jersey collar and yanked backwards, almost sweeping the All-Atlesian athlete off his feet. The girl looked almost as shocked as Dash was when he figured out what brought him back.

"Hey! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he said to Solomon. The tech expert just looked away, unable to face his leader's frustration with an actual response. "What ever happened to being careful around the new people? What happened to team loyalty?" Dash stomped off even more frustrated than when he entered the JASR area. Solomon looked down. He had no idea what came over him. To lay hands on his friend and his leader. What consequences would he face?

"Hey. Anything you wanna say, nerd?" Sienna's voice snapped Solomon out of his anxiety. He looked back up and ended up facing the orange haired girl. She was looking at him curiously, almost wondering if he was ok just as much as he was originally concerned for her. Solomon opened his mouth as if to say something, but simply put a hand to his heart as an unspoken apology for his leader's actions. He pulled his hood over his head and shyly walked off, hands buried in his hoodie's pockets. Before he slid his headphones back on, he could hear a "You okay, Amber?" come from Riley.

Solomon couldn't believe the fight had not attracted a bigger crowd. That was until he saw where the crowd actually was.

At the gate, Yatsuhashi had Team CRDL stopped, refusing to give them access. He was flanked by his teammate Fox Alistair for backup. CRDL was up to their usual shtick of classic insults and jabs, with Cardin leading like usual. Yatsu looked unmoved; his meditation exercises had been paying off. But Fox was looking increasingly annoyed the more they talked.

"Awww look he's upset. Getting cranky without his girlfriend telling him what to do?" the navy-haired Sky Lark said at Fox. "Maybe he's just upset she left the leash at home today." This sent Fox over the boiling point. He grabbed Lark by his shirt, holding him up in the air, and slammed him into the side of Yatsu's Dodge Ram.

"What was that? Mention my team again I dare you!" Fox screamed at him. This sparked a frenzy, and all hell broke loose. Several members of the other teams rushed in to break up the fight. A shot from behind from Dove Bronzewing forced Fox to drop Sky. Sky then aimed a right hook to Fox's jaw, but he ducked and responded with a shot to Sky's gut, doubling him over. In the end, it took Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, and Auburn to break up the two opposing parties.

"Enough!" Coco yelled in an attempt to get order back to her event.

"Let them in," Blake said from behind the scuffle. Everyone turned to face her as they waited for a reason behind this. "I want redemption, and they obviously want to be reminded how they're bottom of the totem pole." Fox nodded as Yatsu carried him back, and Coco glared daggers at Cardin and company.

"You want war? Fine. You've got it! Welcome to Race Wars!"


	9. Chapter 9: 10 Second Fury

**Phew, finally. This one was fun, even if it took a while. I wish I had more time to write, but college gets in the way. Oh well, if you made it this far, thank you, you are seriously a blessing. As always, DASH belongs to me and JASR belongs to Gruntnuker and a big thank you for allowing me to write them. Everyhing else belongs to Monty Oum and the wondeful CRWBY.**

* * *

Upon simmering down, it only took Coco a few minutes to regain order of the car meet. She always commanded the room she was in; it's what made it her a great race organizer. Once she called out the bracket was ready, everyone separated almost instantly. It was like an unspoken code: any fight that could be settled on the track needed to be. Coco climbed into the tailgate of Yatsuhashi's Ram and looked out to the waiting crowd.

"Alright, you know the drill by now. I want clean racing all weekend." She specifically glared CRDL's way then panned back to the rest of the racers. Each team grouped together to hold some sort of small drivers meeting to discuss gameplans. Whispers ran rampant through the crowd as curious minds pondered the matchups.

"Alright, first up! Alistair versus Vulpes!" Coco yelled out.

"Well you can tell she's impartial," Weiss muttered to her team. "Putting her own against number one in the drag power rankings?"

"Coco always likes to make a statement," Blake responded. "She has enough confidence in her team to pull off an upset."

"Let's go!" Auburn yelled while tightening her fingerless gloves. Unfazed, Fox nodded at his team leader, and she responded by leaning down and giving him a subtle nudge for good luck. He shook his head at her, secretly hiding a smirk as he walked off. The two made their way to their respective cars, with Auburn in her Challenger Hellcat and Fox in his modified 1987 Ford Mustang. As the crowd of onlooking racers gathered to watch, the two did their burnouts to warm up the tires. However, Auburn's always seemed to resonate louder than anyone else's in the Vale scene.

The two pulled up on the starting line, and out sauntered Pyrrha, scroll in hand. The redhead held it above her head, with the screen lit with a red dot. Then another red dot appeared next to it, then another, then another. A pause.

Finally, the lights turned green, and with a loud roar, the two cars shot down the track. Just as quickly as they took off, however, the race was over. The 10 second thrill of a drag race was always a flash for spectators, even though it felt much longer from in the driver's seat. Auburn especially felt each moment tick in her head, trying to nail her shifts perfectly. It had paid off, because once the times came in on Solomon's scroll, it showed that Auburn had handily beat Fox. She pumped her fist out the window triumphantly and pointed toward Fox's Mustang to signal 'good race'.

"Damn," Coco said under her breath, only loud enough for Velvet to hear and respond with a shy giggle. However, the smile disappeared when they both turned to see Cardin and company obnoxiously laughing at Fox's elimination.

"Alright, asshole. You're next," Coco said to Winchester. The scowl on her face transformed into a devious smirk on her face grew devious as she turned toward Team RWBY. "He's yours, Xiao Long." With a crack of her knuckles and a press of a button on her keys, the Z28 engine roared to life. As she walked past her teammates, she stopped at Blake. Placing a hand on Blake's midsection, Yang leaned in close and whispered in her ear.

"This one's for you."

The Camaro lined up opposite of Cardin's silver and gold BMW M5. Even the sounds of almost 1200 horsepower couldn't drown out the incessant yelling from Russel, Dove, and Sky, all of which was fueling Cardin's ego, evident by the grin on his face. But, it seemed to boost Yang with confidence just as much as it did Cardin with cockiness. The lights went green, and the cars were gone. When the results came in, the noise from the CRDL camp suddenly ceased and in its place was a different cheering.

"Way to go, sis!" Ruby said as Yang returned back to their team camp.

"It wasn't even close," Weiss added, unable to conceal a chuckle from escaping. They turned to look at the CRDL boys, and couldn't help but gloat at their misery. In fact, the entire meet was feeling just a little more content at seeing the team of loudmouths finally quiet. With a tinge of pride, Coco sent Weiss up for the next first-round matchup.

"C'mon, Weiss! Make RWBY 2-0!" Ruby said. Coco then turned to a quiet corner of the meet and picked her opponent: the green Pontiac Solstice GXP driven by Emerald Sustrai. Hushed murmurs filled the air as Emerald drove her sports car to the forefront of the meet. Weiss paid no attention to the background noise, only the settings she was adjusting on her dashboard as the Audi's V10 ignited.

"Weiss should be able to beat a Pontiac," Jaune said with a smile that quickly swapped into his typical look of confusion. "Right?" Turning to his teammates for an answer, he was at first only met with a shrug from Nora. However, when he read Ren's expression, he found unspoken concern hidden under his Nismo snapback. "Ren?"

"She needs to be careful, and to hit all of her marks," Ren said, arms folded over his chest. Unfortunately, Weiss did not follow this advice. For a car that was usually so efficient at putting its power down, Weiss spun the R8's wheels off the starting line, allowing Emerald to take advantage. But, Emerald still rocketed down the track at abnormally quick speeds for a Solstice. The crowd shushed with surprise, with the exception of a slow clap and a soft chuckle coming from her teammate Mercury.

Weiss silently drove back to her team and sighed as she exited the vehicle. Her head was hung, until a rough slap on the back from Yang suddenly snapped her back to reality and almost knock her over in the process. When she glared daggers toward Yang, the blonde only met her with a silly smile.

"Don't worry. We're still winning this one," Yang said to reassure her. She wrapped an arm around Weiss' shoulders and roughly pulled Weiss to her side, prompting the heiress to groan but crack a faint friendly look. Meanwhile, Coco was setting up the last first-round race.

"Time to see what the newbies are made of," Coco said softly to Velvet before saying the matchup. "Sienna and Ren to the start line!" Sienna gave her team a smirk and headed toward her Ford Mustang. As she opened the door, she stopped her opponent while he was getting in his GT-R.

"Hey," she called out to Ren. "Thanks for the tour of Vale. Now allow me to tour you around the drag strip. Don't worry, I'll lead." Her face exhibited no ill intent in her jab, so Ren responded with a resigned smile and a shake of his head. The Coyote 5.0L powered Mustang and the V6 powered Nissan both fired up at once and took their places. Many of the teams took special interest in this race, especially Team DASH. Auburn couldn't help but notice a message printed on Sienna's rear bumper - "Fastest Fox in Town". She growled to herself, prompting Sapphire to giggle and playfully rub her shoulders. Their team leader reacted to none of this, as Dash only focused on the rumbling cars before him.

When the lights changed, the two cars gunned it and sped off in what was the closest race thus far. But, Sienna had claimed victory over her formidable opponent by a small margin.

"Fuck yeah! I just beat a GT-R!" Sienna said, excitement overflowing. She gave the engine a celebratory rev as she pulled back into her team's area, and she was met with a series of congratulatory comments from her teammates. Before returning to JNPR, Ren pulled up to JASR and he and Sienna shook hands.

Meanwhile, Solomon was checking the times on his telemetry app and something caused his eyebrows to raise. Leaning over to his team, he tapped Auburn on the shoulder and showed her the screen. Displayed on it are the first round times, with her pass listed second under Sienna's. She ripped the device out of Solomon's grasp, knocking him over in the process, and glared at it in disbelief.

"What?!" Auburn said, outrage teeming from her tone, snatching the attention of the rest of DASH. It was the first time in a couple months someone even came close to contesting with her, let alone passing her completely. It was only very rarely could someone like Yang or Ren give her stiff competition, but with Yang on the sidelines lately, Auburn was left to dominate the drag strip. However, with a deep breath, she composed herself once again and tossed the scroll back to the still shaken Solomon.

"What was that? Don't tell me I should be worried," Dash said nervously.

"Shut up. Let me handle it," she said coolly, brushing past him on a stroll toward the combined RWBY-JNPR cars.

"So. How does it feel to be back behind the wheel?" Jaune asked Yang, hanging around the RWBY faction like usual.

"Home away from home. You have no idea how much I missed beating on these guys every chance I can. Speaking of which," she trailed off and looked past Jaune upon seeing Auburn approach them. The fox faunus held up her hands defensively, a self-assured smile plastered on her face. Yang smirked back and stepped forward.

"Glad you're back, blondie," Auburn said. "It's a shame though. You still don't know what the front of a Hellcat looks like. Oh well." Yang chuckled and looked back to her friends to show that she isn't troubled.

"All this from a girl who doesn't even bother visiting me. I'm starting to think you didn't miss me."

"Heh, we need to catch up. How about we go for drinks? Loser buys," Auburn said, the timbre in her voice and look on her face just goading Yang. She accepted, and two sealed their deal with a strong handshake.

"Just so y'know, I like my Strawberry Sunrises with no ice. And don't forget the little umbrella," Yang said, still with a tight grasp on Auburn's hand.

"You order the girliest drinks," Auburn said back. It only took the notice that the semifinals were starting to break their vice grip on each other and head to their cars. As they drove to the line, they had a mini competition over who could do the best burnout, and judging by the crowd reaction, Auburn had a slight advantage. This time, Sapphire took the place at the starter's gate with the scroll, ready to display the lights. The two contenders revved back and forth at one another, each one inching them forward ever so slightly. Sapphire smirked and put a hand on her hip in an attempt to tease racers and crowd alike. But, the scroll went up. The lights came on one by one. Then, the racers saw green.

They bolted past Sapphire and sped down the strip, two titans of modern muscle battling it out in their arena of choice. It was definitely a much closer bout than her first one, but in the end, the times showed that Auburn had edged Yang, securing her a spot in the finals. As they drove back, Auburn pulled up next to the Camaro and motioned for Yang to roll down her window.

"I like my whiskey on the rocks, ok?" she said. The two laughed and returned to their respective teams. Yang was met with a hug from her little sister and overall approval from her friends.

"But, I didn't win," Yang said, confused.

"Yeah, but you almost had her! Your first race back proved that your still a force to be reckoned with!" Nora said enthusiastically, bringing out a small giggle from Pyrrha. Blake stepped forward from the rest of her friends and stood in front of Yang, subdued pride emitting from her eyes when she looked at her.

"We're just happy you're with us again," she told Yang. Even though they had said this plenty times at this point, it still felt good to know that there was no divide among Yang and her friends anymore. However, as they shared that moment, preparations were being made for the other semifinal race.

"So, any guess on that sleeper Solstice?" Sienna asked Riley and Jade, as Amber had headphones on while reading a comic on her scroll, oblivious to the rest of the world.

"No clue," Riley said. "All I can say is it isn't stock." Sienna's ears drooped slightly and she shot the team mechanic with an irked look over the obvious statement. Riley shrugged and the smug grin on her face was enough for Sienna to perk back up and playfully nudge her.

"Please don't take this lightly, Sienna," Jade interrupted. She was looking away from them, her focus fixated on Sienna's opponent, Emerald, getting in her car. Mercury leaned in to say something before she shut the door, and when he came back up, he and Jade made eye contact for just a brief moment. Jade quickly turned away, the uneasiness from their encounter earlier in the day settling in once again.

"Don't worry, boss. I got this," Sienna said to reassure Jade. "However, that's only if I get my good luck charm!" Turning to Riley, she stared at her pleadingly until the redhead finally sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. For you," she said. Sienna smirked and watched her as she walked out onto the lanes. Approaching Sapphire, she requested to do the honors for this race, which Sapphire politely handed her the scroll and stood aside. The two pulled up, with the Pontiac quietly taking its position while the Mustang roared and played to the crowd. Riley pointed at both cars to signal ready then held up the scroll. The lights ticked just like the passing seconds, until the green shone and the thunderous sound of engines boomed down the straightaway.

As they rushed to the finish in a blur, it was obvious Sienna was just as stout as her initial race, but it seemed Emerald was lacking the speed she demonstrated in the first round. A few people were a little surprised by that, but nevertheless, the result was a win and a ticket to the championship race for Sienna.

"Can't win them all," Mercury said amongst the typical post-race chatter and applause, seemingly not bothered by his partner's swift exit from the tournament. That only added to Jade's concern, but it was put aside momentarily as Sienna returned to her, victorious once again. On the other end of the meet, Auburn peered over Solomon's shoulder to see the times again, and this time around she was a tad quicker.

"The finals are set! Vulpes vs. Umberon!" Coco said to everyone to make it official. "Vixens, if there's anything you wanna say to your opponent, the stage is yours." Auburn pushed her way through the people and weaved past cars until she was in the forefront of the meet, her team in tow for support. Sienna soon followed suit, with the rest of JASR backing her as well.

"So. Do you believe me yet? I am the 'Fastest Fox in Town,'" Sienna said.

"You haven't proven anything. What you did in Vacuo? Doesn't matter here. You're a rookie," Auburn fired back.

"Then prepared to get beat by a rookie, because I built this thing to hurt Hellcats' feelings." Auburn casually glanced back to her team and shook her head. Dash laughed loudly, which caused Sienna to scoff.

"Oh wait, you're gonna send your little Atlesian lapdog and his overrated, unreliable piece of crap instead?" Dash slid back, obviously feeling insulted, and answered by giving Sienna a one-finger salute. Sienna immediately stormed toward him, saying, "What? The little rich boy actually wants to try something?!" But, before she could make it anywhere close to them, Riley grabbed her shoulder and kept her back with a simple "Not here".

"Look, I'll even take the high ground here and give the visitors lane choice," Auburn said to defuse the situation.

"I'll take the right lane. And we're no visitors. We're here to stay!" Sienna said back powerfully.

"We'll see about that after this race," Auburn said under her breath as the two groups broke away. They wasted no time buckling in and driving towards the line. They both burned the tires at the same time to warm them up, getting the loudest reaction of the day from everyone else there. As was tradition, Coco strutted out with the scroll to give the command for the last run of the day, serving as the icing on the cake for her hard work. She definitely lingered on for much longer than needed, allowing the tension to build up in the air until it was palpable. But, eventually the scroll went up and lit with the same routine seen every time so far.

Lights went off. Cars launched. The two rivals headed toward the finish, every mark hit to the precise moment as if time was moving ten times slower. They went across the line neck and neck, and not even Auburn nor Sienna could tell who won. They quickly spun around and headed back to see the winner. Everyone huddled around Solomon, as his telemetry was loading the times. As soon as the two fox faunus barged their way through the crowd, the results brightly illuminated for all to see.

Auburn Vulpes - 10.050

Sienna Umberon - 10.027

Sienna raised her arms up in triumph, and her team met her with a big group hug. Auburn stared at the screen in disbelief, not used to the crushing blow of defeat. She glanced back up to see JASR's celebration then closed them and clenched her fists. Solomon looked at her almost apologetically.

"Really?" Dash finally spoke up. "Of all the people you let beat you, it had to be them!" His voice picked up in volume and ferocity until Auburn suddenly cut him off by grabbing him by the collar of his jersey.

"You're the last person I wanna hear this shit from, Ospreay!" she yelled at him, her crimson eyes flaring with rage.

"Guys…" Sapphire said softly to grab their attention. Auburn scanned the area to see the rest of the drivers staring at the scene they were creating. Auburn dropped Dash, then climbed back into her Challenger and drove off without looking back. Solomon put his headphones on, then his hood over them, feeling his friends' collective embarrassment. Dash sat there, stunned into speechlessness.

* * *

Long after the sun had set and everyone had left for the night, set to reconvene at the Tourmaline Airfield tomorrow for the second day of festivities, two figures remained on the quiet premises. Mercury was leaning on the door of his Silvia nonchalantly while Emerald was focused on her scroll. Moments later, the screen suddenly lit up with a phone call. She swiped to accept it then immediately put it on speaker. The voice that came from the other side of the call was distorted beyond recognition.

"Anything to report?" the disguised voice came in.

"Things are getting really tense around here. There has been a lot of fighting among all their little clans," Emerald said.

"Even got some instances of in-fighting," Mercury said, hands on the back of his head as he walked closer to the scroll to make sure he was heard. "I don't think anyone expected that new team to really shake things up."

"New team?" the voice came back.

"Yes. A squad from Vacuo. They're good, they even won the drag races today." Emerald said.

"Doesn't matter. Continue surveillance. Make sure they're distracted with their little games. As long as they're busy fighting each other, they won't be able to interfere with us." The call abruptly ended, and Emerald stashed her phone back in her pocket. Giving the silver-haired boy a nod, the two got back into their cars and left the airfield without a trace.


	10. Chapter 10: Redemption

**Man, I hate how busy life can be. Why can't I just be a hermit? Anyways, you know what goes here. Thanks to you for reading, thanks to my friends for their support, all that good stuff. Hope you enjoy the sideways action!**

 **~Sage**

* * *

The hills to the north of the Tourmaline Airfield were home to a couple of small villages, hidden in the shade provided by the trees. The roads to get to this village were filled with tight turns and elevation changes - the scene for today's drift competition. The morning clouds gave way to blue skies around noontime. Fox and Yatsuhashi had just finished assembling the course when the first racers began to arrive. One team at a time, the scene showed up and lined the curves with a car meet the inhabitants of the small mountainside town would have never imagined to see.

While the crowd was smaller than yesterday's drag event due to there being less space, the usual suspects were in attendance. No one that actually participated in the races would want to miss this chance to gain precious momentum.

During the meet, the teams' respective drift cars took center stage. Hoods were up so the engines were on full display. Some took advantage of the open hoods to scout the competition, while others were simply using the free time to chat with others. The latter group included Ruby and Weiss, who casually strolled up to Team JNPR. Nora's Miata at the forefront of the group, however, its bubbly driver was nowhere to be seen. Instead it was Pyrrha leaning against the driver side door. She gave her friends a bright smile as they approached.

"So, Pyrrha. You guys ready for today?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, I know Nora had this day marked on her calendar since Coco announced it. She's very excited," Pyrrha said in her usual relaxed voice.

"Where is she?" Weiss said. "I expect Nora to be bouncing around with excitement right now." As if on cue, the sound system of the Mazda began resounding with Thunderstruck by AC/DC. The opening guitar riff was loud enough to make both Ruby and Weiss jump, with Weiss involuntarily clinging on to Ruby in the process. When Nora's head popped up through the windshield of the car, Weiss met her with an icy glare, while Ruby was too busy laughing at her snow-haired teammate.

"You know it!" Nora exclaimed while climbing out of the car. "I just outfitted this baby with a new clutch, so she's more than ready to go!" Weiss, still unamused, put her hands on her hips and continued to stare down Nora, but it was clear by her grin that she was used to this treatment from the heiress.

"Yeah? Well you're gonna have to go through Blake to win today!" Ruby said in a playful taunt.

"Tell her she's gonna get… THUNDERSTRUCK!" Nora yelled right as the song hit its chorus. Meanwhile, Thunderstruck could barely be heard over Ethereal by Nosaj Thing, which was coming from the trunk of Sapphire's Focus. She was perched in the back with the hatch open, tapping her foot to the thumping bass. Hopping to her feet, she walked over to Solomon, who again was scouting the newest team around. His mind couldn't help but think back to yesterday with the fight he had to break up. He felt so bad for Amber.

"I know, right?" Sapphire said, snapping him out of his concentration upon joining his side. "Another RX-7? Guess I'm the only one with some variety." She giggled and Solomon smiled back before turning to see an approaching Sienna and Riley.

"That's because it's the only thing that could even come close to competing with imports," Riley said. "I respect the build. Even if all wheel drive is nowhere near as impressive as rear wheel."

"You'd be surprised at my sideways skills," Sapphire said back, her perky tone never fading.

"Easier to straighten out and less likely to spin with throttle. You better be good with that," Riley responded. Sapphire only responded with a shrug then a trademark wink, getting smiles out of both visitors. Meanwhile, Sienna couldn't help but look around to see only Solomon behind Sapphire.

"What happened? Didn't believe me when I said I hurt Hellcats' feelings?" Sienna said with a laugh.

"Nah she's probably just at the bottom of the mountain. There's no way a Hellcat can make these turns to get up here," Riley mumbled in Sienna's ear before joining in the laughter.

"Did I hurt Spicy's feelings, too?" Sienna added. Sapphire tilted her head in confusion momentarily before realizing she was referring to her leader, while Solomon tried his best to hide his snicker under his hood. Sapphire glanced to the edge of the car meet to see Dash with arms folded, facing the road that brings them to the village. There was still no sign of Auburn. Walking over to him, she wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"Dash, can't you just give her a day off? She's rough on herself, so she probably went out to drink and is just hungover today," she said to Dash.

"She needs to be here. Remember what we said? We're a team, dammit," Dash sternly barked back. Sapphire stepped back and sighed, knowing it was probably hopeless. When CFVY called everyone over to start organizing the race itself, she abandoned trying to goad him back and started to get ready while the rules were being explained.

"Alright everyone gather around," Velvet called to the racers. It was common for her to take the lead for explaining rules when Coco was participating in the race itself, even though it made provoked her anxiety. Coco, who was next to her and leaning on the 370Z, gave her a proud smirk and a thumbs up, easing Velvet's worries. "We do drifting a little differently around here."

"Scrap the lecture, rabbit, we're here to race!" Cardin yelled out from the back of the crowd. Coco stared icily his way, then nodded at Velvet to continue, knowing that JASR would need the explanation.

"You'll be lined up in a random order. If you drop two wheels off the track, get passed, spin out, or don't drift, you're eliminated. Make sense?" Mostly everyone was more than familiar with the personal set of rules at this point, so no one spoke out. "Great! Nora, you're on pole."

"Yes!" Nora said before promptly firing up the Miata to make her way through the crowd and take her place on the grid. Coco was placed behind her, then Sapphire next. A quick peek in her side view mirror to fix her hair showed Amber's RX-7 FD next in line. Blake's RX-7 FC was second to last in the order, with Russel's S2000 in between the two Mazdas, and Mercury's gunmetal gray Silvia S15 last. From the crowd, Yang strolled forward, flag in hand, and stood where the asphalt met the grass.

"Ready?" she said, seemingly tantalizing every single driver on the grid at once with that flag. The flag went up. She froze. The engines revved. The familiar calm before the storm. The thrill of drifting was just a few short moments away.

When the flag dropped, everyone bolted out of the gate and tried to fall in line heading into the first corner, a long and technical left hander. The senses returned to drivers and spectators alike: the sight of tire smoke filling the air, the smell of burning rubber, the sound of tires squealing against the pavement. Everyone was filed in by the time they made it out the first turn and barreled toward a double hairpin, marked with an elevation drop.

Nora was definitely enjoying setting her own pace from pole position, even though it was just as electrically fast as if she was giving chase. She was blistering ahead, neutralizing any attempts Coco had at passing her. Knowing she wouldn't be able to keep up with the energized motions of Nora, she sighed.

"Everything fine?" Fox came in to her on team radio.

"Yeah. Just gotta wait until she uses her stuff up," she replied.

Meanwhile, Blake was surprised to be having such an easy time for the first couple of laps. There was no effort from Mercury to make a pass or force a mistake. It seemed like he was content with running in the rear and letting things unfold in front of him first. Blake didn't know what to make of this tactic, but it kept her attention split between her windshield and her rear view at the same time.

In the midpack, Sapphire laid back, keeping a keen eye to her mirrors, which were filled with Amber's sleepy eye headlights. It seemed like every move she made was calculated in both applying pressure on Sapphire and fending off Thrush's attacks from behind. This was something Solomon was sure to keep track of while watching Sapph's on board cam from his scroll.

The radios were filled with the usual channels of chatter, with some providing back and forth banter between teammates, and others too focused to talk. The first group included the polesitter, as she came to her team while sliding through the uphill slalom section of the course on her third lap.

"Hey, guys. How cool would it be if I caught air in here and drifted out of it? Like a jump drift!"

"No, Nora," Ren said with the sigh that commonly followed one of Nora's ideas. Behind him, Pyrrha let out a small giggle and Jaune shrugged with his own smile. In the meantime, Sapphire was giving feedback on the battles taking place around her to Solomon, who was quietly taking mental notes. Dash finally rejoined the main audience and stood over Solomon's shoulder.

"You're taking this too easy, Sapph," Dash said while listening to her input.

"Nah don't worry about it All-Star. Coco's too busy attacking to really concentrate on me. And the rookie is no problem right now," she said back. The carefree tone she was carrying that usually charmed Dash now irked him.

"Sapphire, you're really gonna act like this after our embarrassment yesterday?"

"Hey, c'mon Dash it was close race yester-" Solomon softly interjected before Dash cut him off.

"Make a statement. Eliminate the boss and show them we mean business."

"Are you sure?" Sapphire winced to herself.

"Team order," Dash said. She knew she was in no position to make a move, but she figured she couldn't ignore her leader. Ramping up her charge, she started to converge on the 370Z. But, right as she was ready to make a pass, her car suddenly caught grip in a long sweeper turn, snapping the Focus into a spin. Amber's gasped before yanking the wheel left, darting the RX-7 to the left to dodge Sapphire. The other cars missed her as well, and she was able to lock down the brakes to avoid hitting anything.

"Sorry…" she sheepishly said to her team. While Solomon came in with soft words of reassurance, Dash groaned and turned away, much to the delight of an observing Sienna. Regardless of circumstance, Sapphire was involved in a crash for her second race in a row.

"Nice dodge, Amber," Jade said, suppressing her own smile at seeing Ospreay's frustration. Amber kept quiet, too concerned about the green Honda in her mirrors to say anything. The member of Team CRDL looked to pass high, but couldn't carry enough momentum to complete the maneuver. Anytime he looked low, Amber put two wheels to the edge of the track, essentially blocking him. So, Russel knew that only left him with one option.

"No repeat today," he said before drifting hard into the next corner and making contact with Amber. The hit immediately spun her off to the high part of the track, so getting by her was no issue for Blake and Mercury. CRDL erupted in a series of high-fives. Their pride annoyed JASR, with Sienna especially glaring daggers at them, her fox ears twitching.

"I think those poor girls are seeing why we all hate CRDL," Yang said on the RWBY radio.

"He's about to be next," Blake said coldly. Her golden eyes pinpointed her target. With each turn, the S2000's taillights grew larger. She pushed her car harder and harder, a desire for payback fueling her. She eventually was able to put her front bumper just inches away from Russel, wrenching his attention to behind him.

"Hey c'mon man. Don't let her get to you," Sky radioed in. But, Russel's nerves were starting to fray and it was evident. He went wide in the next turn, shakily trying to hold the higher line. Sky came in again to warn him to not leave the door open for the Deadly Nightshade, but it didn't register in Russel's mind. Blake again glued herself to him into the long sharp left-hander, putting them side by side. As Russel snapped his head to the driver side window, he felt the car wiggle. He panicked and overcorrected, the front end biting the other way, sending him out of the groove and forcing his wheels off the road.

"That's it! Great work Blake!" Ruby said. Despite Cardin's protests, it was clear CRDL was out of the competition, thanks to intimidation alone from Blake.

With three quick eliminations, the action calmed over the next few laps. Coco was still waiting for Nora to fade, and Mercury was still passively biding his time. Comms went hushed as everyone just worked on hitting their marks. This was especially true for the Silvia, as Emerald hadn't said a word to Merc since the race began. Eventually, the CFVY channel sparked to life with Coco's voice.

"I feel she's weakest in the slalom. I'm gonna make a move there."

"Careful. There's not a lot of room to pass," Fox notified. But her mind was already set heading out of the chicane and into the slalom. She quickly reeled her in and was in a position to cross over and go by her.

"Guys I'm gonna try it!" Nora suddenly said. Before her friends could tell her not to, she dove to the inside, clipping the curb enough to get all 4 wheels off the ground. But, her zeal cost her car control and the rear end swung out while in the air. Coco's eyes widened through her sunglasses, and her attempt to swerve left unfortunately forced her into a spin as well.

"Dammit!" Coco said, slamming her fist on the dashboard. Upon turning to see the eliminated Miata, its driver sent her an apologetic yet silly smile, prompting the no-nonsense race organizer to roll her eyes and shake her head. It was down to the final two.

No sooner than Coco and Nora were out of the race did Mercury finally press the attack to the back of Blake's Mazda. A quick glance from the two stricken cars to the mirror showed the the silver haired boy immediately pull next to her in a drift. Blake tried to squeeze him down and get him to back off. The two even touch slightly, making both twitch slightly but keep going.

"Impressive move by both of them," Weiss remarked, bringing Yang to look at her. "Excellent timing on his part to make a move, and great reaction by Blake. She moves down any later and it's too late." Yang nodded and stared straight ahead at the action. In fact, everyone was stuck on what was unfolding on the track.

Mercury juked his Silvia left but then looked to Blake's outside. Again Blake drove defensively, pinching the Nissan out of the groove and causing him to lose grip. The S15 got loose, but Mercury steered into it and kept his car facing the right direction in a miraculous save. The crowd seemed to express unanimous awe at the action.

"Wow," Jade mumbled under her breath. It looked as if it took no time at all for Mercury to reel in Blake again. The next shot he took at a pass again had Blake block his line again. He growled under his breath, low enough for Emerald to barely hear. At this point, the entire RWBY camp seemed to all have their breaths held.

Tension boiling over, Mercury drove it into the first turn more aggressively than any other point in this race. He had just enough space between the grass and the RX-7 to charge his hood into. But due to the angle he took in the turn, his drift started to move upwards, whereas Blake was starting to move down due to her more defensive line. The two touched again, the left rear of the RX-7 meeting the front right of the Silvia.

Upon colliding, Blake's slide grew steeper, the rear end really kicking out. It was as if time stood still for Blake in this moment, and she was able to quickly compose her thoughts. Once she came back through, her response in correcting the car was automatic and she swung the front end back out and drove off. The sight of Mercury facing backwards in the grass in her side view mirror told her the race was over.

The rest of team RWBY embraced in a hug as several friends on opposing teams walked over to congratulate them. Once Blake arrived, she could barely get the car stopped and get out before Yang hauled her out of the driver seat and wrapped her up in a warm hug. With a smile, Blake turned to face her teammates, with Yang speaking before Blake could even muster words to say.

"Now that's redemption." Blake could only hug her friends tighter before peeking up to see an enraged Mercury marching toward them. Yang followed where Blake was looking then glared at today's runner up. It was obvious he was looking for a fight, so Yang stepped in front and motioned for him to bring it on.

"Mercury!" Emerald said, finally catching him and holding him back. "What do you think you're doing?! You're gonna blow it!" She spoke that last part in a whisper, and it was enough to get Merc to back off. Other team members had also approached the scene in case they needed to stop a fight. Everyone was shocked to see the usually relaxed Mercury so riled up, especially Jade. And they were equally confused on what Emerald said to calm him

"Alright. Let's set up for the next event!" Coco said, trying to grab everyone's attention away from the conflict. As she said this, Ruby's scroll buzzed from the pocket of her black jeans, the screen lit with a private number. She stared at it for a moment before hesitantly answering.

"Hello?" she softly said. The voice that met hers sounded amiable, but it was one that she did not recognize.

"Good afternoon, Miss Rose. Could you do me a favor and put me on video call? I would like all of your friends to hear this." The demand caused Ruby to freeze with shock, which was easily noticed by the rest of RWBY. They all came to her side, rushing her with questions of who was on the other end of the call. Realizing the long pause, the voice continued. "I promise you're not in trouble. I have an offer for all of you."

"Rubes, who is it?" Yang again asked. She put the scroll on video call and rotated the screen sideways. She was not met with a face, only a picture of a gear logo.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ruby finally spoke, carrying as serious of a tone as her childlike voice would allow her.

"I am… a friend. And I've been watching your entire group of racers. I must say I'm quite impressed," the voice said, audible enough for many of the other surrounding teams to hear. They flocked to the RWBY camp and huddled around its leader, all dead silent as the mysterious man went on.

"I promise to you I'm not a cop. I'm not an agent. I am simply a man who is amazed by what you've all been doing. And I want to give you a bigger stage to perform upon. As you can guess, there are many more like you in Remnant," The screen suddenly began flashing with racers and cars that no one had ever seen before: an eagle faunus standing in front of an old Ford F-100, a Chevy Nova blazing down a drag strip, a beautifully painted Acura Integra Type-R. Soft murmurs filled the crowd before the man went on once more.

"I propose to you an event where you can showcase your talents. Free of authority. Free of rules. Just a chance to put yourself against the best racers in the four kingdoms and etch your name as the fastest in Remnant." The screen suddenly flashed again with a different logo, this one accompanied by the words "Spektrum Festival." Some sat amazed at what they were hearing. Others were quick to denounce him as a madman.

"I know this may seem like a scam to all of you right now, but I give you my word that it is true. And I will prove it when I am able to provide more details. I'll keep in touch. Oh, and by the way, I hope you don't have any more plans today, because an elderly lady that lives in this village called the cops about five minutes ago." The call abruptly ended, and Ruby looked over her shoulder at the entire Vale scene behind her. The stunned expression on her face was representative of the overall mood.

There was barely any time to react to anything the man said, especially his last comment, because within 30 seconds of hanging up, sirens could be heard in the distance. As soon as Coco uttered the word "Police!" everyone was gone as fast as possible, leaving the village just as quiet as it usually sits within only a matter of moments.


	11. Chapter 11: Black Card

**I LIIIIIIIVVVVVE!**

 **Sorry this took 5 months. But I can say with excitement that I'm back! This took a while for a few reasons. One, a lot of things had been going on in my life and that deterred me from writing. Two, when I did write, I was working on side projects on my tumblr, theonetheycallsagey. It feels so good to be back in the swing of things again, and I hope I can ride this momentum to continue both this and my tumblr things.**

 **PS: Thanks to my friend Sam for allowing me to use her OC, Ava.**

 **~Sage**

* * *

There was always an atmosphere of power surrounding Adam Taurus. Being the leader of the White Fang, he was known throughout the underground for carrying himself with a level of intimidating professionalism. Perhaps it was the fine clothes he did business in. Maybe it was his direct approach when dealing with associates. But, Adam's reputation was one that followed him everywhere, and resonated even with the ones that worked under him. Even when they first came here, it was always much easier for Ilia to approach him when someone else was with her.

"I shouldn't have to do your work for you, Ilia."

" _Crap. Really wish she was here right now,"_ Ilia thought. Adam's voice forced Ilia to freeze in her tracks. He hadn't even flinched from the railing he was leaning over, back turned to show the wilted rose graphic on the back of his jacket. His mask was in his hands as his fingers ran across each perfectly crafted detail of the horn-like symbols that decorated the front. Only a select few had seen what Adam looked like behind that mask. It had been so long since Ilia could recount what his eyes looked like.

Adam turned around, not before sliding the mask back on his face, and slowly stepped forward with hands in pockets. Without even seeing for certain, Ilia knew that Adam was analyzing every detail of her through the slits of the mask. It took her every fiber of her being to not change her skin color and hide on the wall that she backed herself to.

"Sir," Ilia finally choked out, "I assure you my team and I had the situation under control." She could feel her nerves fraying, only easing slightly as Adam walked past her.

"If one of your subordinates hadn't call me to intervene, the traitor would've been in Vacuo by now!" Adam said.

"Ava," Ilia growled under her breath. She followed Adam as he continued his saunter down the stairs, heading toward the garage floor. He stopped at the base of the stairs and surveyed the place. Speakers played background music to the usual commotion of White Fang members decking out their cars with mods. Upon stopping, Ilia continued, "Sir, you can't trust Ava. She's disobedient, and doesn't seem loyal to-"

"You think you have the authority to tell me who I can and can't trust?!" Adam interrupted, immediately hushing Ilia up. She tried not to visibly shy away, but it was hard for her. She knew the stress was eating at Adam, volatility getting the best of him more and more often. This life had warped him since they came from Menagerie looking for fresh competition.

"She has quickly proven herself among our ranks as one of the fastest," Adam went on, "and I cannot argue with results. I need results." The tone in his voice almost insinuated that he hasn't been getting these results lately from Ilia. She couldn't reflect too long on in it though, as she watched Adam approach his Gallardo, tracing his hand across the damage on the front end. "And that's why she'll be joining us for the meeting tonight." Ilia fought the urge to protest once again, allowing Adam to go on.

"I came here with one goal: to create an empire," he said, "one that could support the faunus and give them the platform to fight back against the people that call us animals. I wll not let any traitor undo my hard work." The emphasis on the word traitor especially caused Ilia's face suddenly shot back up, meeting the redheaded bull faunus with a look of shock that she could no longer hide.

"This isn't about Tukson anymore, is it? This isn't the you that got off the boat with us from Menagerie. This is-" Adam's frustration and pent up rage finally boiled over as he slammed his fist through the Gallardo's window. Ilia yelped mid-sentence at the loud shatter of glass that brought the entire garage grinding to a halt. The only thing filling it besides Adam's impassioned cry was the speakers playing the beginning to a track by Jidenna.

" _Long live the chief."_

"Everything I do is for the faunus! Every race, every mile!"

" _Long live the chief."_

"It's to use my talent to help give them a better tomorrow."

" _Long live the chief."_

"And no one, and I mean no one, will stand in my way."

" _Long live the chief."_

* * *

Ruby sat on the sofa in her usual manner, upside-down with her short gradiant hair barely scraping the floor. However, her typical cheeriness was not there, marred by a mixture of uncertainty and contemplation. Her scroll laid before her, leaving her to stare at her most recent calls. One marked as "Unavailable" remained at the top. The words "Spektrum Festival" lingered in her mind. Once she flipped herself right side up, she heard the words again, but only because she had finally tuned back in to Weiss ranting. It was easy to tune her out on a normal day, let alone with so much clouding Ruby's thoughts.

"What kind of joke does this guy take us for? This is the worst try at a sting operation I have ever seen!" Weiss said, pacing back and forth while the coffee machine works on her brew. With her page bookmarked, Blake put her book down and eyed Weiss from her stool with legs crossed.

"Think about it. He said the cops were alerted, and he was right. If he wanted us arrested, all he had to do was keep the call going five more minutes. No one was near their cars. It would've been all too easy," she said.

"You cannot be serious," Weiss said back with her classic icy glare, "Aren't you supposed to be the one that doesn't trust things?"

"Hey! Remember I've seen a lot more than you, heiress," Blake retorted. After briefly eyeing each other, both of them turned their attention to Yang, who had been quietly minding her own business under the hood of the Camaro. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had on a yellow jersey with her name on the back. Her team knew mechanic work was one of her most well-known methods of relieving stress.

"Xiao Long, you are awfully quiet for… you. And it's actually more annoying than when I can't get you to be quiet," Weiss said.

"Sorry. I have something else on my mind," Yang said coldly, tossing a wrench aside then wiping off her hands. Weiss and Blake both looked at each other with looks of equal confusion at what could possibly have Yang more hung up.

"Why did he call me?" Ruby chimed in for her sister. It was second nature for her to tell when Yang was in protective mode, so she knew knowing exactly what she was thinking. Yang pointed at her sister in a sign of affirmation. "Why didn't he call Coco? Of all the people, why me?"

"It's not like you have many connections outside of our group," Weiss said, a slight worry rising in her tone.

"Someone out there knows my baby sister," Yang said while looking down, anger rising in her own voice. Her fists were clenched, one of them still holding her rag. When she finally looked back up, she was met with a mellow concerned expression from Blake, as if to balance out her hotheadedness. Yang's tension dissipated with a sigh. "I need to protect Ruby. Protect all you guys. What if someone out there really wants us behind bars?"

"I still think they're doing a terrible job at it," Weiss said under her breath.

"Sis," Ruby said, climbing over the back of the sofa and approaching Yang, "Don't take what Dad and Uncle Qrow said so seriously. We can take care of ourselves when we need to. You don't have to put all this pressure on yourself." It was hard to stay serious when Ruby's caring demeanor could melt even the coldest of hearts. The two half siblings embraced in a hug.

"I still wanna know the truth," Yang said, "and I'm gonna look for it."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Blake asked, tilting her head in interest.

"I'm going to pay an old friend a visit," she said. Blake's bow twitched, obvious to Yang it was her cat ears folding in disapproval. "Relax. I know it's on the shady side of town, but he knows everything that goes on in Vale. Getting info out of him won't be too hard." Blake's worry didn't sway, however, so the blonde responded by getting closer to her with an enticing smirk. "You should really come with me. It'll be fun."

"You know I'm not like that, Yang," Blake said back, breaking out a smile.

"Suit yourself then," Yang said with a chuckle, "You're gonna be jealous when you see how I'm riding in style."

"The Camaro?" Weiss said confused.

"Nope. Let's just say while you guys had me on the sidelines, I had to keep myself busy with something."

* * *

Ilia was on auto pilot as her Supra brought up the rear of the three car convoy. The only thing keeping her on the quiet road was the bright glare of the GT-86's taillights in front of her. Without them, her car would have easily drifted off just as much as her mind. The scene from earlier was plaguing her right now. Listening to Adam's words over and over again. Saying he came here to "create an empire." Was it true? The brake lights flashed with what felt like blinding ferocity, getting her to refocus as they pulled up to the docks' security gate. The toll bar lifted above the cars in front, inviting all three to drive in.

"Stay here and keep guard," Adam's voice came in through the radio. Riding the brakes, she turned the car sideways across the entrance then parked. The GT-86 did the same so that they were nose to nose. This gave Ilia her first real look at the powerful version of the White Fang fleet car before her. As a White Fang member climbs its ranks, they were granted more modifications for their car, both visual and performance. This certain Toyota was in a league of its own, considerably more souped-up than the last time Ilia saw it.

With a sigh to keep her composure, Ilia put her mask on. It had to be all business from here on out. She stepped out of the car at the same time the GT-86's driver did - a wolf faunus with long red hair and fiery eyes that matched. A black sleeveless crop top showed off tribal tattoos that ran down both her arms. She leaned on her car with arms folded, her mask in hand.

"Ava," Ilia said in a low snarl, whispering as she approached her to avoid Adam hearing, "you think just because you've racked up a few wins means you call the shots now? I am your squad leader! Don't forget that!"

"The streets decide who call the shots, not anyone else." Ava said with a smug grin.

"Then why do you follow the Fang? Why do you fight for our cause?"

"Because faunus like me aren't given opportunities to show their talents. I'll take mine how I can get it." Ava's smirk then turned into a laugh. "If you had listened to me, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I would've run him and his piece of crap pickup down no sweat. You're just mad your little roadblock failed and you had to answer to your rampaging bull." Ilia's skin started to hue red with rage, which only fueled Ava's ego further. "Well done, leader." Ilia tried to stand her ground, but her muscles were twitching toward confrontation. It took Ava pointing to Adam to remind her why she was here, and she begrudgingly cooled, her skin returning to normal. Ava slipped on her mask, one that covered her mouth instead of her eyes like the traditional White Fang mask.

"Can't even wear the proper mask. Why do you disgrace the Fang?" Ilia muttered.

"Because I like for people to see the look in my eyes when I beat them," she said in reply. Eventually, both of them concentrated on Adam as he stepped forth. The shipping containers were cleared away, leaving an open area. The only thing in the bull faunus' vision were two cars, both spotless, gleaming in what moonlight the impending rain clouds were allowing. A white Bentley Continental GT with tinted windows and a pink convertible Chevy Corvette C7 Stingray silently. The only movement came from the other side of the Corvette in the form of a twirling umbrella, whomever behind it hidden.

"Where's your master?" Adam said, his businesslike confidence never wavering. The umbrella moved aside so Adam could see the girl behind it spin around on the heel of her boot to face him. Her heterochromatic eyes matched her hair, half pink and half brown. With a self-assured smile, the girl didn't back down from Adam's looming stance despite him clocking at nearly a foot and a half taller than her.

The driver door of the Bentley abruptly opened, revealing velvet red interior from behind the dark tint. Out stepped a man clad in the finest white suit with red-lined interior to match his car. A bowler hat sat on top of bright orange hair whose bangs swooped down to cover one of his green eyes. He drew a lighter from his pocket then whipped out a cigar, lighting it as he held it between two fingers. Gesturing to Adam dramatically, he twirled a cane around before turning to his partner.

"Ah, Neo, love the intimidation tactics you've been working on! Really got him shaking in his boots!" said the notorious Roman Torchwick. Neo nodded before joining his side, arms folded with attention fixed above her to the two taller men.

"Already with the games, Torchwick?" Adam said unamused.

"What can I say?" Roman said with a shrug, "I got bored waiting for you. Was starting to think you weren't gonna show up." Leaning to look past Adam, he surveyed the damage on the Gallardo and mouthed "Yikes" to Neo. "Didn't think it'd be that hard."

"Enough," Adam barked sternly, the explosiveness he displayed to Ilia earlier long gone, only that infamous professionalism remaining. "Stay on the matter at hand. Why has there been a lack of progress lately?" To his dread, Roman only met his inquiry with a laugh.

"That's why you called this meeting? Somebody needs to teach you the virtue of patience."

"You said they infiltrated the group. Were you lying to me?" Adam said.

"They did. But I don't control those brats! She has them trying to blend in as seamlessly as possible right now. Pretty sure Kicks got them in a bad situation with some dirty driving."

"Then perhaps I need to take this up with her," Adam said, taking one step toward Torchwick, "Why do I need to go through a henchman mediator? Why do I even need to be working with humans to begin with?" The stressed disdain behind the word "humans" followed by Adam straightening his jacket would have shaken any other man. But, Roman could only chuckle at him. It took the much smaller Neo stepping in to diffuse the situation and get him to back off.

"Humans are the fucking worst, am I right?!" he said, motioning to himself to prove his point, "I'm prime example number one. But face reality Taurus. You need us. You need me."

"Give me one good reason why I need to entertain you any further."

"Because without me, your little dream is just that. A dream. The same dream that every animal lining the factories and mines in Atlas has." Ilia and Ava both gave each other looks of disgust, that jolting jab finally putting them on the same page for once. Ava attempted to charge forward at the orange-haired criminal, but Ilia immediately read her intentions and put out an arm to stop her.

"Is he really going to let him shit talk us like this?!" Ava said through gritted teeth. Ilia didn't know how to respond. She could only watch with a worrisome look.

"You want change? Then you need someone who actually has the influence to make it. That's where yours truly comes in. I've got a hand in everything. Casinos, clubs, gunrunning. I have friends all over the city. You gotta have the power - and the money - to make it happen." Roman knocked off the silliness and stared daggers at the mask of Adam Taurus. Neo smirked at her partner in crime.

"For someone who claims to be as powerful as he is, why are you taking orders from someone else?" Adam said. The grin dropped from Neo's face and Roman became enraged.

"Why you-!" He marched toward the White Fang leader, with each step of him getting closer, the more ready Ilia and Ava became to jump into action. But, before he did anything horribly rash to Adam, he eased off. Releasing a sigh, he said, "I'm cool. I'm cool." This put Ilia and Ava at ease momentarily, althrough both could feel their nerves shot.

"Perhaps we got this meeting off on the wrong foot, Taurus. It's obvious you're just curious about our operations. Understandable. I'm a gambling man. You have some stake in the Vale racing scene and you want to protect that, right?"

"You could say that," Adam said firmly.

"Then we're still on the same page. I know I said some things I shouldn't have. So, let me make it up to you." Torchwick pulled out a sleek black credit card from a pocket inside his suit and he slipped it into Adam's pocket. "If you're in that much of a rush to get something out of Vale's scene, then get yourself something fast enough to chase it." Begrudingly, Adam nodded and put his hand over the pocket to ensure he would keep it safe.

"Is that real?!" Ava said, eyes widened in astonishment. "The Lambo's not even in that bad of shape!"

"This isn't the first time," Ilia said coolly, not taking her eyes away from her leader and Torchwick. After one last brief word, Adam walked back to the three Fang marked cars. Despite her awe, Ava tried to play it off. Meanwhile, Ilia looked at him for what to do next.

"He was scared to do anything to me. Typical human. Scared to try anything that may upset their precious status quo. C'mon, we need to go." So many new concerns flooded Ilia's thoughts. Even more worries about her racing partner. But, she knew that he would never show even the slightest bit of worry. Only determination to charge straight ahead.


End file.
